Through Another's Eyes
by Neurotica
Summary: AU. Sequel to Through the Cupboard. Following the oddest summer of his entire life, Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts and attempts to discover exactly where he belongs.
1. One

**Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim anything that may belong to JK Rowling or the Harry Potter universe.  


* * *

**__

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_One_

Harry Potter was very aware that he was a strange boy. It had taken him some time to come to terms with this fact, but up until about a month and a half ago, he'd thought he'd finally begun to accept it. He understood that he was a wizard, that as an infant, he was the only person to ever survive the Killing Curse. He understood that he was quite possibly the only person to ever survive an encounter with Lord Voldemort the number of times he had. And he understood that he couldn't step foot into the wizarding world without crowds of people staring at him, whispering, and gaping at the lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

It wasn't until a few weeks into his summer holidays that Harry began to realize that not only was he a strange boy, but he could very well be the only person to ever land in the situations he became tangled up within. Following a freak occurrence in Vernon and Petunia Dursley's cupboard under the stairs (the words "interdimensional jelly" came to mind), Harry had somehow found himself in another world. On the positive side, he had parents and siblings here; on the negative, the friends he'd known since his first year at Hogwarts either loathed him or eyed him with suspicion whenever he stepped foot in their vicinity.

The strangeness hadn't ended there. Harry began receiving flashes of memories belonging to the alternate universe's version of himself, even having full conversations with the other boy. Then, on 1 September, on platform 9 ¾, Harry was once again proven to be a very strange person. He and the other Harry had been hit with a Killing Curse sent at them by Draco Malfoy. The only thing that had saved any boy named Harry Potter that day was the fact that the two of them had been sharing a body—when the curse hit, it had its desired effect: it did kill somebody. Unfortunately, that somebody was the other Harry, the one who belonged in this world.

The reactions of Harry's parents and their friends were quite understandable, even if some of them were a tad overdramatic. James Potter, angry and grieving over the loss of his son, had kicked his best friend, Remus Lupin, out of Harry's hospital room after discovering Remus had known all along that something had happened to his son. It had taken Harry's disappearance from St. Mungo's Hospital and a full day's search before James realized things could have been much worse.

Overall, and very much to his surprise, Harry had been accepted by his family.

Currently, the fifteen-year-old was sitting on an examination table in St. Mungo's while a Healer took his sweet time peering into each of Harry's eyeballs with a lit wand, walked around the table murmuring things under his breath, and asked Harry stupid questions about his health. At various moments during the entire Healer visit, Harry glanced at the woman sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. The redheaded, green-eyed witch was looking on with twitching lips while Harry glared at the Healer.

_Funny,_ Harry thought grumpily,_ I always thought mothers were supposed to be on your side..._

"Well," the Healer said, finally straightening up after he'd tested the reflexes in Harry's knees for the fifth time, "there don't seem to be any lasting effects from the curse, aside from this cut." He gestured at Harry's forehead where a lightning-bolt shaped cut sat between the boy's eyebrows. "I don't see any reason he couldn't go back to school, Mrs. Potter, so long as he's being looked after by Madam Pomfrey—she'll of course need to be apprised of the situation; if you'd like, I could take care of that for you. And at the same time, I can inform her of the potions we'll need Harry to continue taking for the next few months."

Harry stared at the Healer. _"Months?"_ he whispered incredulously.

The Healer nodded grimly. "Mostly things to keep your strength up and assure that your immune system is able to fight off colds and the like. As I've said many times, we've never seen a case like yours, Harry, and as such, we don't know what effects you could develop. Best to do what we can to avoid whatever we can manage."

Following instructions given to Lily that Harry ignored while he was buttoning his shirt, the Healer shook the boy's hand, wished him luck at school, and ushered them out of the room.

"Why do I have to take so many potions?" Harry grumbled as his mother led him down the hospital corridors.

She chuckled and draped an arm around his shoulder. "Because, my dear, you are a medical miracle, and as such, you are going to be used for observation until further notice."

Harry rolled his eyes as they left the hospital and stepped onto the busy London sidewalks. "So when can I go back to Hogwarts?" he asked as they headed towards a small restaurant for lunch.

"Well, since you've been given a clean bill of health, I'd say you can go back on Monday morning if you want," she told him. "That will give you a few more days to relax and it will give your father and I a few more days to adjust to all this."

The boy nodded silently, holding the restaurant door open for his mother. She smiled and winked at him, and approached a podium just inside the door. As a waitress led them to a booth, Harry allowed himself a few moments to let his nerves float back to the surface. He'd had time to settle in with his family and for them to get to know him. But at Hogwarts, everything would certainly change. While most of Harry's time in his own world had been spent ignoring the stares and whispers of the other students as he passed them in the corridors, he'd still had Ron and Hermione to fall back on. Everything here was different—he shuddered a little at the recollection of his birthday party a few weeks back where Lavender Brown had thrown herself at him and kissed him until he couldn't breathe anymore.

Harry was going to be alone at school this time around. He had his younger brother Caleb, but he was only a second year and probably had his own friends to hang out with. There was always Hermione Granger—Harry hoped he'd made some headway with the bushy-haired girl over the summer: she'd gone from hating this world's Harry to being willing to converse with him.

"Sickle for your thoughts?" Lily asked, startling Harry back into the present.

He picked up the menu the waitress had left for him and studied it as he replied, "Just thinking about Hogwarts."

She gave him a sympathetic smile and reached over to pat his hand. "You'll be okay," she assured him. "I know it's going to be a bit odd, but I'm sure you'll adjust quickly."

"I guess," Harry replied with a sigh.

After another few moments or so of staring at him thoughtfully, Lily opened her own menu. "So what are you in the mood for today, my boy?"

* * *

James Potter stood in a small room beside his best friend and partner Sirius Black as they looked through a charmed wall that allowed them to see into the next room over without those in said room being able to see or hear them. The two wizards looked on without expression as a young blond-haired boy shifted nervously, his grey eyes darting this way and that.

"What do you think?" Sirius asked in a low voice, his eyes not wavering from Draco Malfoy.

James sighed. "I think I'm further relieved that my wife and I have raised our children better than Lucius Malfoy did his," he said tonelessly. "And I think I believe that he was under the Imperius Curse."

The other wizard nodded. "What now?"

"One of two things," James replied. "One, we send him back to Hogwarts where he'll be open to retaliation from his father and any other Death Eater annoyed that dear Draco's mission was a failure. Or we send him and his mother into hiding for who knows how long and risk that same retaliation for their disappearances, which probably wouldn't be any different from anything else Voldemort has tried to get us back for."

It was Sirius' turn to sigh. "I know what I would do," he began hesitantly, "but your kid and family was the one affected by this mess, so it's your decision."

Very slowly, James began to nod. "Right," he said decisively. "Instead of sending a teenager to Azkaban for life for doing something he couldn't control, we go after Daddy Dearest."

"And what of young Master Draco?" Sirius asked.

"I'll talk to Dumbledore," James replied. "Draco can come with me. Until we decide where he's to go, Hogwarts is the safest place for him."

* * *

Monday morning came much more quickly than Harry had expected it would. He woke before sunrise and trudged his way to the kitchen where his mother, father, and baby sister Piper sat around the table eating their own breakfasts. With a nervous smile directed at his mother as she placed a plate of food in front of him, he slowly began to eat.

"Worried?" James asked as he sipped his coffee.

Harry looked up to find his father's hazel eyes shining back in amusement. He shrugged. "A little," he responded with a shrug, taking a drink of his pumpkin juice.

"Well, you have nothing to worry about," Lily said for what had to be the fiftieth time since the Healer visit on Wednesday. "If you have any trouble, the Headmaster's door is open to you and Remus is just down in Hogsmeade—he says he'll be more than willing to help out if need be..."

"Lily, you're making the boy more nervous," James said quietly, glancing between his wife and son. "There aren't going to be any problems, Harry. Nobody knows what happened on the platform," the wizard quickly glanced at his daughter who was occupied playing with one of her dolls, "and anything they come up with is hearsay. The Ministry doesn't even really know what happened, and we plan on keeping it that way. Just relax, focus on your studies, and enjoy the Quidditch season when it begins."

"And I should tell you the rule when it comes to sending letters home," Lily said rather sternly. Her eyes gave away her humor. "We expect two owls a week—" James cleared his throat, giving his wife a look. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "All right, _one_ owl a week. But if you feel the need to send more, I certainly wouldn't be against it."

Harry chuckled and nodded as he continued eating his waffles.

Following breakfast, Lily fussed over Harry, making absolutely certain he had everything he needed packed within his trunk before James reminded her that she'd checked it herself three times already. Finally, it was time for Harry to be off. He stood in front of the fireplace with his trunk—James would be carrying it with him through the Floo—and allowed Lily to attempt smoothing his hair, hug him tightly several times, and kiss his cheek, which only caused her to wipe off the lipstick she wore.

"He'll be fine, Lily," James said in exasperation. "We've got to go; we don't want him to be late for his first lesson, do we?"

With a heavy sigh, still looking as though she believed this wasn't a good idea, the witch backed up, giving Piper room to rush at her brother for her own goodbye hug. Harry kneeled down and accepted the hug happily. "I'll see you at Christmas," he reminded the little girl.

"Okay," Piper said quietly, looking as though she was ready to cry at the thought that her beloved big brother was leaving her.

Chuckling, James turned to the fireplace and retrieved the jar of Floo powder, holding it out to Harry. "You know how to Floo, I trust," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Harry snorted and smirked. "Yes, I do," he answered. "Though the first time I tried, I ended up in Knockturn Alley..."

His parents exchanged amused and concerned glances, but James managed to shake off this revelation. "Well, come on, kid," he said, gesturing for Harry to take a handful of the greenish-blue powder. "Off we go."

Nodding, Harry took a handful and stepped into the fireplace, taking a deep breath. "Hogwarts," he said confidently. "Headmaster's office." He tossed the powder at his feet and disappeared in a whirl of green flames.

* * *

**AN: **My most humble apologies for the horribly long wait. I won't waste your time making excuses. But here is the first chapter, short, to the point, and gives me time to get back into the universe. Thanks to whydoyouneedtoknow for beta-reading again. And please take time to review! Authors thrive on reviews!


	2. Two

**_Through Another's Eyes_**

By Neurotica

_Two_

Harry stumbled out of the fireplace and onto the carpet of Albus Dumbledore's study. He only had a moment to ensure he wasn't going to be sick from Flooing before he had to move aside so James could step neatly out, Harry's trunk in his hand.

The wizard winked at him as they looked around for Dumbledore—the Headmaster didn't seem to be anywhere in sight... "Huh," James said, his brow furrowing as he looked around. "He said he was going to meet us here."

Harry ignored this for the moment as he crossed the study to observe Fawkes the phoenix. No matter how different everyone else in this place looked, Harry took a great deal of comfort to find Fawkes was still the same. With a smile, the boy reached out a hand to stroke the phoenix's head. In return, Fawkes emitted a short, quiet note of phoenix song—Harry suddenly found his nerves of what was to come were lessening. He turned as he heard James chuckle a little.

"What?" Harry asked, a small grin playing at his lips.

James only shook his head. "Nothing," he replied quietly. Both of them turned to look when the study door opened and Dumbledore entered, a small smile and pair of twinkling eyes their welcome.

"Good morning," the Headmaster said cheerfully. "I trust I find you well today."

James nodded. "Indeed you do, sir," he replied, leaving Harry's trunk by the fireplace and moving to sit in front of Dumbledore's desk. Harry dropped into the chair beside him.

"Excellent," Dumbledore said, smiling serenely. "Harry, I should inform you that, as per your parents' wishes, your professors are not aware of the happenings of the last several weeks. Naturally, they displayed interest in how you were able to survive the Killing Curse, but I was able to concoct a story to suffice their curiosity for the time being."

"And what story is this, Albus?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That Harry was indeed hit with the Killing Curse, but as it was cast by an unqualified wizard, it was not strong enough to have the desired results," Dumbledore told them. "Your professors, Harry, are aware only that you have been ill over the last fortnight; they have been instructed to help catch you up on the work you've missed."

Harry nodded.

Dumbledore smiled. "I shouldn't keep you from your lessons or dormitory for much longer," he said quietly. "James, if you would be so kind as to escort Harry to Gryffindor Tower, I believe you and I have something to discuss upon your return."

The boy's brow furrowed as James' face went from relaxed to business-like in the flash of a second. "Of course, Albus," James replied quietly, standing and heading back to the fireplace for Harry's trunk.

With a wish of good luck from Dumbledore, Harry and James left the office, stepping on the spiral staircase as it took them into the castle's entrance hall. Silently, the two wizards made their way up the stairs to the seventh floor; when they reached the Fat Lady that guarded the Gryffindor dormitories, they looked at one another, each realizing they didn't know the password.

"Er..." James murmured, looking pleadingly at the Fat Lady.

She merely raised an eyebrow. "No password, no entrance," she said loftily.

"There you are!" said a voice behind them.

James and Harry turned to find Caleb rushing up the stairs, a wide grin in place. "Password's balderdash," he said both to Harry and the portrait.

"Indeed." The Fat Lady's portrait swung open, allowing the three Potters to climb through the hole and into the common room.

"Everyone's at breakfast," Caleb explained as they headed to the fifth year boys' dormitory. "There's about twenty minutes before lessons begin. Oh, and this is yours." Harry watched his younger brother removed a time table from the pocket of his robes.

Harry quickly scanned the column of subjects, only vaguely surprised to find the other Harry was taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes instead of Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. His first lesson of the day was Charms.

"Well, I should get going," James said once he'd placed Harry's trunk at the foot of the only bed in the dorm that was made. "Have a good term, both of you." Caleb quickly rushed forward to get a hug from his father. James chuckled and returned it.

"Er, I've got to get my schoolbag," Caleb announced, looking between James and Harry. "I'll meet you downstairs, Harry."

Harry nodded and smiled. A moment later, he was alone with his father. "So, I'll see you at Christmas, I guess," he muttered, shuffling around uncertainly. Was he supposed to hug his father before the older wizard took his leave? It had been only natural for him to have hugged his mother before stepping into the fireplace twenty minutes ago...

James seemed to be having the same internal debate. He finally settled on sticking his hand out to the boy. Harry shook it. "Take care," he said gruffly. "If you have any problems, don't hesitate to write and let us know, okay?"

Harry nodded. "Of course," he replied. "Erm, thanks..."

James smiled a little and winked. "Don't mention it," he replied, releasing Harry's hand. "Well, I'll let you get your things together for lessons. If I get a chance, and if you stay on the team, maybe I could come watch a Quidditch match at some point."

"I'd like that," Harry said sincerely, smiling.

After a few moments of staring at one another, James cleared his throat, ruffled his hair a bit, and finally decided to leave. Harry raised his hand in farewell as James reached the door and glanced over his shoulder before leaving the room. Shaking himself a little, Harry quickly went to his trunk before changing into his school robes and stuffing Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Herbology books into a backpack. He arrived back in the common room to find Caleb waiting for him on one of the tables.

"Ready?" Caleb asked as they headed out the portrait hole.

Harry sighed deeply. "Do I have a choice?"

Caleb only chuckled and led the way down to the Charms corridor. They split up here, Caleb needing to head for Transfiguration. The smaller boy wished Harry good luck before waving and rushing off again. Harry took a very deep breath and let it out slowly, laying his hand on the doorknob of Professor Flitwick's classroom.

_Here we go again._

* * *

James went straight from Hogwarts to the Ministry and quickly made his way to Auror Headquarters where he found Sirius waiting for him in his office.

"How'd it go?" his friend asked as James walked around his desk and collapsed exhaustedly into his chair.

The Head Auror shrugged. "All right," he replied. "If Lily had had her way, Harry wouldn't have left the house at all. She's been a little overprotective of him lately."

"Can't imagine why," Sirius muttered dryly. James glared half-heartedly at him. "Well, you'll be happy to hear that our mutual connection in one Dark Lord's Inner Circle has relayed some very interesting news."

James' eyebrows shot up as he sat forward eagerly. "And?"

Sirius sighed and waved his wand over his shoulder to close the door. "Voldemort was initially rather annoyed to find out Harry survived the curse," he replied. James nodded; he'd expected that much. "Now, however, he seems quite pleased that things worked out the way they did."

James' eyebrows rose again. "Why?"

"No clue," Sirius responded. "He was overheard muttering something about results, but didn't say much else."

James sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes under his glasses. "Well, if Lily and Dumbledore are right about some potion Harry was given during his kidnapping causing all this parallel universe stuff, maybe that is the result he's talking about."

"Possible," Sirius agreed, nodding. "Any idea how you want to go about finding Malfoy?"

Shrugging, James sat back in his chair again. "Chances are high we won't get him for months—even before all this, Voldemort kept him on a short leash."

"Probably still pissed off after the mess at Gringotts a few years back," Sirius responded. James smirked and nodded at the memory. "Ah, well. If we're lucky he'll fall into a pit of rabid pixies and we won't have to worry about it."

Chuckling, James reached into his drawer to remove a file for a case he and Sirius had been working on for years. "We should probably do _something_ to earn our pay," he said in response to Sirius' glare at the folder.

Rolling his eyes, Sirius moved his chair around the desk and the two friends began to work.

* * *

Harry was the first person in the Charms classroom. He looked around for a moment, finding Professor Flitwick hadn't even arrived yet, and went to take a seat at the table he'd always occupied with Ron and Hermione in his old world. After letting his schoolbag slip off his shoulder and retrieving his textbook, Harry tried to wait patiently for the other students to arrive. He found himself rather relieved that Dumbledore had sent him directly to Gryffindor Tower, then to his first lesson upon his arrival instead of the Great Hall. At least during a lesson, people couldn't crowd him asking tons of questions he couldn't answer.

Behind him, the door opened and Harry turned to find a group of fifth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws enter. He spotted Ron and Hermione briefly before a squeal sounded and the group was parted. Harry barely had time to brace himself before Lavender Brown threw herself at him. He fought to push her arms—which were slowly cutting off his air supply—away from his neck. As everybody took their seats, Harry managed to convince Lavender to sit in a chair rather than on his lap and glanced around the room. The Ravenclaws were rolling their eyes at Harry and Lavender, while most of the Gryffindors took chairs in close proximity and easily ignored the display. While Seamus was asking what had happened to him and if he was okay, Harry discovered Ron and Hermione both sitting on the Ravenclaw side. Ron was carefully avoiding looking anywhere at Harry, but Hermione met his eyes and gave him a small sympathetic smile.

Feeling better about his return to Hogwarts, Harry tried to answer some of the questions being thrown at him. Professor Flitwick's arrival saved Harry from having to answer Lavender's question of whether he'd missed her.

"Settle down, settle down," Flitwick called, climbing up on his stack of pillows.

While the professor tried to explain that day's lesson—Silencing Charms—Harry was trying to free his right hand from Lavender's death grip. Twenty minutes later, Harry had succeeded in casting the charm and inwardly smirked at how Lavender didn't seem to realize her voice couldn't be heard as her mouth continued to open and close, forming silent words.

Harry found himself very relieved to find that after Charms, his next lesson was Arithmancy, and Lavender wouldn't be there—she was off to Divination. Rolling his eyes at Lavender's overdramatic temporary goodbye, Harry was still wiping lipstick off his cheek when he entered the Arithmancy classroom. A moment's search found Hermione sitting, predictably, at the front of the classroom; Harry made a beeline to sit beside her.

"You'd think you'd be used to her reactions by now," Hermione said quietly, looking through some notes Harry assumed were from the last lesson.

Harry only shrugged and retrieved his textbook. He looked over at Hermione when the young witch muttered a charm, tapping her roll of notes with her wand. A duplicate roll appeared beside the original; Hermione handed the copy to Harry. "What's this?" he asked, opening the roll.

"All the notes you've missed," she responded quietly as Professor Vector entered the room.

"Thanks," Harry murmured, setting the roll aside to pay attention. Hermione gave him a small smile in response.

* * *

The rest of the morning went quickly. Harry arrived in the Great Hall for lunch and glanced around for a moment before choosing his seat beside Caleb. His brother was sitting across from Ginny Weasley and a boy that Harry assumed was in Caleb's year. "Mind if I sit?" Harry asked when he reached Caleb.

Caleb looked up and smiled. "Go ahead," he responded.

"You can sit here," Ginny said rather stiffly, grabbing her schoolbag. "I'm done anyway."

Before anything else could be said, Ginny was quickly leaving the Great Hall. With a small sigh, Harry took her seat and began to reach for a few sandwiches on the platter between himself and his brother. He'd been getting reactions like Ginny's on and off all morning, and though he'd tried to work out what his other self had done to annoy these people, he'd finally realized that if he lingered on these things too long, he wouldn't ever get any of his schoolwork done.

_And what's worse, I don't even know half the people who don't seem to like me..._ Harry thought as he chewed his food thoughtfully.

"Happy to be back at school?" asked Caleb, reaching for a sandwich in the middle of the table.

"I guess," Harry murmured. "Going to take a bit of getting used to..."

A sympathetic look on his face lived briefly on Caleb's face before it was replaced with one of exasperation. Harry began to ask what was wrong, but he spotted the problem entering the Great Hall. "Can't she go anywhere alone?" he asked the younger boy.

Caleb snorted a laugh as Lavender spotted Harry, beamed, and practically ran between the tables to reach them. Sighing heavily, Harry tried to continue eating his lunch, blocking out Lavender's rather annoying voice as she gushed about what they should do during that weekend's Hogsmeade visit. At some point, Caleb had to stuff his hand in his mouth to keep from laughing at the look of severe annoyance on his brother's face. He choked out a see you later around his fingers, grabbed his schoolbag, and headed out of the hall. Harry was certain he could hear Caleb's laughter long after he should have.

* * *

Harry's first chance to really see and speak to Ron Weasley arrived just after dinner that night. All day, though Harry had tried to break away, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas hadn't drifted far from their friend, cutting down his chances to do anything on his own. When the three boys had entered Gryffindor Tower, Seamus and Dean arguing about the differences between Quidditch and football and which sport was better, Harry scanned the common room, searching for anyone he actually wanted to be around. Caleb, he knew, had gone to the library after dinner to work on an essay for Transfiguration; Hermione was absent as well. With a sigh, Harry started for the sofa in front of the fire until he spotted Lavender Brown spotting him and making a beeline for him once again.

"Going to bed," he hurriedly told Seamus and Dean, then added at their raised eyebrows, "Headache."

_Wasn't a complete lie,_ he mused, somehow managing to avoid Lavender's path._ She does give me a headache..._

Though Lavender seemed to want to follow him up the stairs to the boys' dorm, she merely pouted a little when she realized Harry wasn't turning towards her and went to sit with Parvati. Thinking he really needed to do something about Lavender Brown, Harry pushed open the fifth year boys' dormitory door and entered. In his old world, Harry's four-poster bed was between Ron's and Neville's. Here, it was on the other side of the circular room between Dean's and Seamus'. Harry couldn't help but think how odd the dorm looked from a different perspective. Just as he was digging through his trunk, looking for something to occupy his mind until bedtime, the door opened again. Harry had fully resigned himself to Lavender chasing him up the stairs, and found himself quite surprised to find Ron had entered instead.

The red head stopped in his tracks as he spotted Harry, a look of dislike and mistrust on his face. "Hey," he murmured, heading towards his own bed.

"Hey," Harry replied. "Erm, how was your summer?"

Ron's eyes shot up from where he'd been staring at his bed as though he believed it was some sort of trap. "Stupendous," he said, his tone dripping in sarcasm. "What do you care?"

Harry sighed and shook his head before returning to his open trunk. Ron would take some time, he realized, retrieving his pajamas. When he turned around, the redhead was sitting on the edge of his bed, his legs dangling off the side, watching Harry rather closely; it looked as though he was trying to figure something out. "What?" Harry said. "Do I have something on my face?"

For a moment, Harry thought he spotted amusement on the other boy's face, but it was gone too soon to be certain. Ron shook his head. "No," he said stiffly. "Sorry..."

Harry turned away and abandoned his search for his pajamas, preferring to lie down in his robes instead. Ron returned to looking for whatever he'd come up for and left with a scroll in his hand a few minutes later.

With a sigh, Harry folded his arms behind his head and stared at the canopy above the bed. Regardless of everything that had happened, regardless of how he'd come to this place, he had hoped this new life might be easier than his old one had been. And in some ways, it was; he had his parents here, two people who would do anything for him; he had siblings; and it seemed to him that Voldemort hadn't dedicated his time and resources searching for him. He had no doubt that the Dark Lord would kill him if ever given the chance, but that could be dealt with.

This world's Harry had been so different for him. He'd had more confidence than Harry could ever imagine holding and had lived his life without any real hardships. He was rather spoiled and used that to his advantage. He hadn't even realized how interesting his brother was until it was far too late.

Harry recalled finding out about his other self's kidnapping when he'd been only five. All the adults in his life believed this had been Voldemort's doing, and Harry didn't doubt it, but he couldn't help but wonder why Voldemort hadn't killed the child he'd taken. He'd overheard his parents talking late one night about what this kidnapping might have done; they believed Voldemort had forced Harry to take some potion that skewed his view on reality so thoroughly that it could open another universe, the one Harry had come from.

And his original universe or not, Harry was right back where he was before the attack on Platform 9 ¾ where his other self had been destroyed by Draco Malfoy's Killing Curse. His scar, which he hadn't seen since his arrival to this place, was where it had always been; he was still looked at very oddly through the halls of Hogwarts and whispered about when people thought he couldn't hear them.

He wondered vaguely if his scar's reappearance would bring on the connection he had with Voldemort, the one where he could sense what the Dark Lord was feeling or how near he was. As though confirming this thought, Harry's scar prickled and he rubbed at it absentmindedly.

_So overall, he thought blandly, nothing's changed. I'm still the effing Boy-Who-Lived, even if the circumstances are different... And I'll still have to deal with all the visions I had last year._

Harry shuddered a little as he recalled some of the fits he experienced during his fourth year at Hogwarts. People are still going to think I'm mental if it happens here...

He'd learned rather early on that what people didn't understand had strange effects on their behavior: the lack of knowledge scared them, causing them to build defenses in their minds with the front of anger, and they did everything they could to come up with some explanation for what they didn't understand.

And sometimes, those explanations are not kind to the people involved.

_Oh well. Nothing I can do until it happens._

Yawning heavily, Harry removed his glasses and set them on the bedside table before curling up on his side and falling into a fitful sleep.

* * *

**AN:** Yes, I know it's been forever. I apologize for the horrendously long wait. But trust me when I say I've only recently recovered from the worst bout of Writer's Block I've ever suffered from. Not to mention I've had a horrendous day myself, so please improve it a bit and review. Hopefully it won't be another four months between updates.


	3. Three

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_Three_

A group of friends and colleagues sat around a large table in the den of Mad-Eye Moody's home trying to pretend they weren't too exhausted to be here. The Order of the Phoenix had begun running out of meeting places, ten years ago, and this was one of the last safe houses in the wizarding world. It wasn't often that meetings began after midnight, but Dumbledore had insisted upon it—he'd wanted to make certain everybody could get away from their day jobs to join them.

"I don't understand why he doesn't just tell me when there's going to be a meeting," James told Sirius and Remus as they waited for the Headmaster's arrival. "I can work it so all the Aurors are free..."

"Because by telling you in advance," replied Remus as he quickly skimmed through a report, "he would be announcing his plans and making it far more likely that we could be targeted. Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of knowing about a meeting any longer than an hour ahead of time."

"Still a pain in the arse," Sirius said, yawning hugely and sitting back in his chair.

All conversations were put to an end by the arrival of the Order leader. "Good evening," he said once he was situated at the head of the table. "I do apologize for the lateness of our meeting, but I needed the extra time for last minute arrangements." Dumbledore looked around the table for a few moments before continuing; his eyes settled on James, his wife, and friends. "By now, I'm certain you are all aware of the events that took place on the platform of the Hogwarts Express a few weeks ago." James' eyes darted away; Lily held his hand tightly. "The details of the attack are being kept tightly under wraps due to the requests of those involved." Everybody in the Order looked over at James briefly, then averted their gazes sheepishly when they found James looking back at them. "Sirius was the Auror in charge of the security searches and I have asked him to run through the minutes leading up to the attack." Dumbledore nodded at Sirius and sat back in his chair, sipping at his tea.

James listened as his best friend once again explained everything that had happened on 1 September. The same story had been explained to the higher-ups at the Ministry; they'd started an inquiry into the attack and had placed both Sirius and Tonks under surveillance until their investigation had ended. James had done what he could to keep his Aurors in the office, even if they were stuck doing paperwork or fetching coffee, but the longer the inquiry went on, the more he worried he was becoming that the Minister was considering suspending the two Aurors who had been in charge of ensuring the Hogwarts Express was safe for students to board.

"...Disapparated before we could get identify more than a few of them," Sirius finished.

"I understand you're keeping the information safe, James," Alice Longbottom began, "but can we at least know who it was that attacked Harry?"

James sighed and exchanged a look with Dumbledore; the Headmaster made a gesture with his hand that said James was free to share whatever he wished, or nothing at all. James decided the Order should at least know about this, to try to stave off the retribution he knew would be inevitable. The problem being, he hadn't even told Lily who attacked their son...

"The only person who saw the attacker," he began cautiously, knowing his wife was watching him very closely, "was Harry, so it's on his word that we've been questioning Draco Malfoy, Lucius' son."

The silence was heavy. Over the last several years, the Order and the Ministry had been hard-pressed to pin any crimes on Lucius Malfoy, whether it had been due to lack of evidence or certain people insisting that Malfoy couldn't have possibly done what was being suggested. It was endlessly frustrating for James and the rest of the Aurors knowing no matter what they might have seen Lucius do, he would walk free before any of them could blink an eye. The concern now passing silently between the Order members was the question of whether Draco Malfoy would receive the same treatment.

"Has there been a confession?" Mad-Eye asked gruffly, breaking the silence.

Sirius nodded. "Yes," he answered, "but he's insisting his father had him under the Imperius Curse during the attack. After several conversations between James, Dumbledore, and myself, we believe him."

"And what's the plan now?" Kingsley Shacklebolt asked in his infuriatingly calm tone. "Azkaban?"

"No," James said, trying not to fidget under the stare Lily was giving him for not telling her this before. "Since all the evidence suggests he was under the Imperius Curse during the attack, we can't prosecute Draco for anything. For the time being, he'll be taken to a safe house along with Narcissa Malfoy, at least until other arrangements can be made."

A few eyebrows rose at this. "Narcissa agreed to that?" Remus asked incredulously.

Sirius smirked a little. "Not at first," he said lightly, "but once she found out what Lucius made their son do, she was surprisingly eager. Selfish as she is, she actually gives a damn about her kid, unlike Lucius, and she's agreed to hand over any and all information she can give us that can get Lucius thrown into prison."

The Order seemed quite pleased with this bit of information—several of them matched Sirius' smirk at the thought of getting Lucius Malfoy off the streets, even though they knew there was still only a small chance of convicting him of any crimes—and began talking of other things.

"Why Harry?" someone asked as the meeting was drawing to a close. "There were hundreds of people on that platform; why'd Lucius choose Harry?"

James glanced across the table to meet Alice's eyes before they quickly darted away; there were only a handful of people aware of the secret that lay in the depths of the Department of Mysteries, the secret that killed Frank Longbottom only four years before... "Who knows," he said in what he had hoped would be a nonchalant tone. "Could be a hundred reasons."

Dumbledore ended the meeting minutes later and began to excuse himself to return to Hogwarts. He briefly met James' eyes with a clear message to follow him. James nodded and leaned over to whisper to Lily that he'd be back momentarily before standing and following the Headmaster's footsteps out of the room. "How's Harry, sir?" James asked once they were somewhere private.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "He is doing quite well," he responded. "His adjustment to his new atmosphere is coming along much more quickly than any of us could have possibly hoped, though it will still take time for him to acclimate fully." James nodded, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders. "My current concern is the information I received from Severus Snape last evening—and before you ask, I waited to inform you until I could confirm this information."

"What information?" James asked quickly, easily blocking out the informant. "Is it about Harry?"

"I believe so," Dumbledore said heavily. "Severus was able to find out more about Lord Voldemort's improved mood over the last months. It was a result of a plan he put into motion ten years ago and could quite possibly explain how Harry came to be with us in the first place..."

* * *

Caleb Potter yawned as he stumbled down to the Gryffindor common room one morning about a week after his brother's return to the school. Most of his housemates were still in bed with the exception of a few seventh years attempting to take advantage of the quiet to study for their N.E.W.T.s. Knowing better than to disturb them, Caleb decided to head out for a walk to the owlery, hoping for the chance to clear his head a bit. He'd spent the last few weeks trying to wrap his mind around the fact that though Harry still looked mostly like himself, he was now a complete opposite of what he once was. His parents had explained what they could about what had happened to Harry and though Caleb had worked to force himself to understand, he had to admit, even only to himself, that there were some things he would never fully understand.

Since Harry had started Hogwarts, Caleb had been convinced that his brother's entire existence centered around making him as miserable as possible. Until Christmas of that year, the two Potter boys had been very close; neither of them had many friends, save a few of the children of their parents' friends, and they'd dealt with that by joining forces and causing as much mischief as they could. Caleb had been looking forward to his older brother's return; he'd only had Piper to play with and her only interests involved playing with her dolls and having tea parties with her stuffed animals. But after the first day of Harry being home, Caleb noticed a change in the other boy. He didn't seem to have any time for him anymore, preferring to spend time with his new friends at Hogwarts. The attempts Caleb made to spend time with his brother had been met with insults, and after the third try, Caleb had given up.

His parents had tried to explain that these things happened some times, kids made new friends and drifted away from their siblings. These attempts at comfort hadn't really meant much coming from his father—he was an only child and had had the same friends since his own first year at Hogwarts—but his mother had spoken from her own experience. None of the Potter children had actually met their Aunt Petunia or her family, and from what Caleb knew of the Dursleys, he didn't want to, but at least the stories had helped Caleb realize he wasn't the only one getting the snub from an older sibling...

Regardless of the treatment he'd received from his older brother, Caleb had never stopped caring about the older boy and even looking up to him. He fully understood what it had meant when Harry had been hit with the Killing Curse on Platform 9 ¾, and though he'd yet to allow himself the time to grieve for the brother he'd lost, he felt as much sadness as his parents did. He also understood what it meant that, in some form, Harry still existed. The relationship he currently had with this new Harry was the one he'd always hoped to have with his brother. This Harry actually gave him the time of day, encouraged his interests in inventing things, and even seemed to enjoy his company.

Caleb couldn't help but wonder what the catch of all this was. He still felt as though he was dreaming, just as he had when his parents had first told him about everything, and he wasn't sure if he was willing to wake up yet or not. As he reached the owlery, the sun was only just beginning to rise over the Forbidden Forest, and Caleb climbed up on the windowsill to watch morning arrive. He sat for hours, thinking about both Harrys, wondering if it was possible for him to properly grieve for the brother he'd lost when there was somebody else who looked so much like him still walking around.

_Mum says people grieve in their own ways, _he thought as a few owls flew over his head and out of the owlery. _Some people cry, some people brood, some people crack jokes and pull pranks... So what's my method of grieving?_

An hour later when he started off to the Great Hall for breakfast, Caleb was no closer to his answer; though as he walked, he wiped several tears from his face with the sleeve of his robe.

* * *

"Dumbledore isn't really telling us anything we don't already know," Sirius said the morning after the Order meeting. It was customary for him to come to the Potters' home for breakfast before he and James left for the Ministry. "We knew Voldemort was behind this whole parallel universe business..."

Lily nodded as she sipped her coffee. "Yes, we did know that," she said patiently. "But we didn't know _why_."

"Of course we knew," Sirius scoffed. "Power in one universe isn't enough for him, so he's taking over two."

Remus slapped the back of Sirius' head in passing as he paced up and down the kitchen, reading the newspaper. "The problem with that being the Lord Voldemort in the _other_ universe only returned to power a few months ago," he said, not looking away from what he was reading. "Our Voldemort, if you'll excuse the term, has been going strong for twenty-five years and, most unfortunately for us, is showing no signs of slowing down. If he became aware of what had happened to his counterpart, I could see him being quite concerned that the same could happen to him and he would want to do everything in his power to avoid that."

James nodded. "That's essentially what Dumbledore said," he replied, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "That, and Voldemort seems to believe that he can somehow harness the power of his counterpart to make himself more powerful in this universe unless we find a way to stop him."

"And the only one who can stop him," Lily said quietly, staring at the table, "is Harry."

Nobody could find anything to refute her statement, so nobody spoke. James had dedicated his life to protecting his family during the war, Harry in particular. The threat against his oldest child had been evident even before Harry had been born, even if Dumbledore didn't tell the boy's parents about the threat until Harry was three months old. James had been determined that Harry would remain safe, no matter the cost; James wouldn't allow his son to be harmed if he was there to do anything about it. He'd failed when it mattered most, and regardless of Lily's insistences that there wasn't any way he could have known about the parallel universes or even what Lucius Malfoy was planning that day on the platform, he continued to blame himself for the outcome. He should have done the security searches himself, rather than entrusting the task to anybody else; he should have been on the lookout for anything suspicious.

_Instead, I stood a hundred feet away from my son while he was being attacked and murdered..._

He shook himself out of his daze when he heard Sirius' barking laugh. Looking around the table in bemusement, he suddenly realized someone had changed the subject at some point; currently, whatever the topic of discussion, Remus was bright red and seemed to be trying to hide behind his newspaper. "Did I miss something?" he asked once Lily's laughter had subsided a bit.

Sirius snorted. "Nothing at all," he said loftily. "Just Moony trying to deny what we all already know to be truth."

James' brow furrowed as he tried to catch Remus' eye; when he continued to fail after the first several minutes, he came to the conclusion that Sirius and Lily had been teasing their friend about Helen Snowe. James snorted a laugh. "Leave him alone," he said, patting Remus on the shoulder. Remus gave him a grateful look, then James started speaking again. "It's not his fault he's blind to the blatantly obvious. Must be a side effect of spending his entire life behind a book."

"Thanks a lot," Remus muttered, his face still red. "Don't you and Sirius have something to do besides teasing me about my love life?"

Sirius eyes widened along with his grin. "He's finally admitting to having a love life!" he announced. "Prongs, our little Moony may be growing up."

Laughing, James finished off his coffee and stood. "Come on, Padfoot, time for work." He turned to Lily who was still snickering rather heavily. "I don't know how late I'll be tonight; we've got some stuff to check up on."

Lily's eyebrows rose. "You mean like Draco and Narcissa Malfoy?" she asked blandly.

James winced, his ears still ringing from the argument they'd had the night before over his keeping information from his wife. "Maybe," he admitted with a sheepish smile.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I may not be here anyway," she said. "Girls' night out with Alice and Molly." Her lips twitched as her voice raised a little in volume. "And I was thinking about inviting Helen as well."

James turned around in time to see Remus' eyes widen in what could only be horror. "Bad luck, Moony," he said lightly. Seconds later, Sirius was dragging him away from his kiss with Lily towards the fireplace.

* * *

Harry was getting quite fed up. He'd been back at Hogwarts a week and could count the minutes he'd had to himself on one hand. Between all the people wanting to know what happened at King's Cross, the gang of friends that seemed to trail after him everywhere he went, and Lavender Brown not giving him room to breathe, he was desperate for some time alone. He'd been relieved to find he still had possession of his father's Invisibility Cloak, even if he hadn't seen a corner of the Marauders' Map yet—Fred and George Weasley seemed to give him just as wide a berth as the rest of the school who weren't his "chosen few"—and managed to sneak out of the common room one evening while Lavender and Parvati were busy choosing new nail colors for each other.

Harry allowed his feet to carry him through the school corridors and out onto the grounds without so much a second thought. Down by the lake, he adjusted the Invisibility Cloak to make sure it covered him fully and lay on his back, staring thoughtfully at the night sky.

Though he'd never realized the possibility even existed, he was starting to feel homesick, something he'd never felt in his life. It wasn't the home in Godric's Hollow with his mum and dad and little sister that he missed most—though he did feel a bit of a pang of sadness that he wouldn't see any of them until Christmas—but the world he'd left behind and quite possibly would never see again. He missed Ron and Hermione, and all his other friends. And Sirius and Lupin... Had they even realized he'd gone missing yet? He couldn't imagine they wouldn't have realized; were they searching the country for a boy they would never find?

And what would this mean in terms of the war with Lord Voldemort?

Harry sighed heavily, wishing he could, even just for a moment, talk to his friends and let them know he was safe and unharmed. He wanted Sirius to give him some advice on what he should do and how he should handle this situation. He wanted Hermione—_his_ Hermione—to tell him everything she'd ever learned about parallel universes, then listen to Ron convince him this was the coolest thing that could have happened to him. He even wouldn't mind a few minutes of listening to Dudley's insults, just to prove to himself he had lived another life once.

_If I really want that, I must have officially gone mental_, he thought to himself with a small smirk.

A sudden feeling of déjà vu overcame him as he focused on the faces of his friends and godfather; dwelling on thoughts of wanting a proper family had begun the chain reaction of events that got him to this place after all. He hadn't thought for a second that it could happen again, but when his vision blurred considerably and a sharp pain erupted in his head, he felt his heart give a doubled thump. Was it fear? Excitement? He didn't know.

Screwing his eyes shut against the sudden pressure in his skull, he watched a vision appear in his mind's eye as though he had fallen through Dumbledore's pensieve again. He was looking down into a dark, stone kitchen, a long, wooden table set in the center, and people he knew began to materialize, all of them looking stressed and worried.

_"What do you mean he's not there?" echoed the voice of Sirius Black loudly. Harry was able to focus on a figure furiously pacing the length of the kitchen twice as he spoke. "How could he not be there?"_

_Remus Lupin, who was seated at the table with his face buried in his hands, looked up only long enough to locate his friend. "I don't know, Sirius," he said with strained patience. "Arabella says she saw him walking around the neighborhood every night since his return from Hogwarts, but he suddenly stopped taking his evening walks."_

_"And we're just going on her word alone?" Sirius demanded incredulously. "No offense to Arabella Figg, but she's a _Squib_!"_

_A tall black wizard with a golden hoop earring sighed and spoke calmly, "This isn't based solely on her word. She sent her cats to check the house at night—she thought Harry might have been ill—and when that surveillance failed to turn anything up, she called Mad-Eye in to check."_

_"The most worrisome thing," Lupin said broodingly, looking up from the table finally, "is that none of Dumbledore's alarms were set off. Death Eaters didn't come in and take him by force, nor did anybody else magical. Wherever Harry went, he went under his own power..."_

_Sirius ceased his pacing and collapsed into a chair, looking utterly lost. "What about that residual magic you said you felt...?"  
_

Though Harry focused all his concentration on the scene below him, it faded away as quickly as it had appeared, along with the voices, and Harry found himself again on his back in front of the Hogwarts lake. Shaking and sweating heavily, Harry looked around, certain he'd woken up the whole castle of Hogwarts with whatever had just happened. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the loud, out of tune singing that could only belong to Rubeus Hagrid. Managing to stifle the urge to take off the cloak and call out to the half-giant, Harry sat up a little and turned to watch Hagrid's huge lantern bob up and down as he crossed the school grounds towards his hut.

Once Hagrid had disappeared, Harry stood quickly and started back to the castle, unwilling to be caught outside this late at night. Only half-aware of where he was going, he started to think back on the vision he'd just experienced. Had it been real, or was it invented by his mind because he'd so badly wanted to see what was happening in his old world? If it was the latter, then why the pain he'd felt when it had begun?

_Dumbledore would know_, he thought exhaustedly as he climbed the spiral staircase to his dormitory. But if he went to the Headmaster with this, he'd have to admit he'd snuck out of the castle, or at least figure out a lie to cover, and he had a feeling sneaking around the castle at night in this world was just as frowned upon as it had been in his old world. _Hogsmeade this weekend_, he reminded himself as he collapsed into bed without bothering to undress or even remove the Invisibility Cloak. _I can talk to Remus then..._

With a plan in mind, Harry had fallen asleep within a minute, despite the continued feeling of discomfort in his head.

* * *

**AN**: In shock? Yeah, I know, me too. Terribly sorry it's been so long. It seems it takes me breaking my wrist to get any motivation or inspiration to write. Though it has been such a terribly long time, I hope you haven't forgotten how to review. Hopefully you'll be seeing an update for _Not Set In Stone_ in the foreseeable future. Til then, take care!


	4. Four

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_Four_

"I'll catch up with you!" Harry said irritably for the fifth time as he tried to pry his arm from Lavender's death grip.

He'd been waiting impatiently all week for the Hogsmeade weekend to arrive and though he'd tried to convince his group of friends he had other things to do besides going to sit in Madam Puddifoot's all afternoon, Lavender wasn't having any part in letting him go easily. That morning, he'd been fully prepared to tell the others he was sick and not up to a Hogsmeade trip so they would go without him and he could sneak into Honeyduke's through the cellar, hoping to avoid a display like this. But when Lavender had started fussing over him, offering to bring him soup and sit with him all day, he'd resigned himself to finding a way to ditch her in the village.

"I've just got something to do," Harry told the girl. "I won't be long..." He sent a pleading look to Seamus and Parvati—Seamus smirked while Parvati managed to get Lavender to let Harry go by telling her she saw some robes at Gladrags she wanted to try on. Turning away for a moment so Lavender wouldn't see him rolling his eyes, Harry waved as Lavender was led away from him before turning a corner and locating Remus' bookshop. He pushed open the door and looked around, trying to find the older wizard in the crowd of Hogwarts students that filled the building.

"Harry!"

The boy turned towards a staircase and found Remus grinning and waving him up. Harry returned the grin and took the stairs two at a time. "Nice shop," he said approvingly, looking around.

Remus' grin widened. "Thank you," he said before lowering his voice so only Harry could hear. "How's your week been?"

Harry sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "I really don't see how he got anything done with Lavender attached to him all bloody day." Judging by the chuckle Remus gave, he was well aware that Harry was referring to _this world's_ Harry. "Er, do you have a moment to talk?"

Remus' brow creased a little in question, but he looked around a moment before nodding. "Of course," he said briskly, gesturing for Harry to head down the stairs.

They fought their way through the crowd of people checking out books towards the backroom. Remus said a few whispered words to the young witch at the cash register; she nodded, gave Harry an odd look, and went back to taking care of customers. Closing the door behind them, Remus nodded towards a pair of comfortable looking armchairs. Harry waited for Remus to get them both a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits Harry strongly suspected had been stolen from his parents' house—Lily had made a large batch just before Harry had left for Hogwarts.

"If I didn't take them when I had the chance, James and Sirius would have eaten every last crumb," Remus said, noticing where Harry was looking. "And they really are excellent..."

Harry chuckled and nodded his agreement, telling Remus about his first week back at Hogwarts. Nothing very noteworthy had happened before the other night when he'd gone out to the lake, but Harry held onto that for the time being, still uncertain how to explain what had happened. Regardless of his attempts to befriend Ron Weasley, the redhead still remained firmly set in his opinion that Harry was an arrogant twit not worth two seconds of his time.

"The problem is," Harry said through a mouthful of biscuit, "every time I try to talk to him, Seamus comes in and insults him, so Ron thinks I was only faking being polite as a setup for whatever Seamus decided to do."

He'd hoped Remus might offer some insights and advice on this particular subject, but it seemed he was far too busy trying not to laugh to be of any real use. "He'll come around," was the only thing Remus managed to offer. "Just be patient."

Harry rolled his eyes at this, deciding to broach the subject he'd come to discuss. Remus listened very patiently as Harry explained what had happened on the evening in question, and though he very obviously wanted to lecture Harry about sneaking out of the castle at night, Harry didn't give him the chance; he plowed on through his explanation of seeing his world's Sirius and Remus worrying about where Harry had gone. When he finished speaking, Remus was staring into his teacup pensively.

"What do you think it means?" Harry asked quietly when the older wizard didn't say anything for far too long.

Remus heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head, looking back up at Harry. "I don't know," he replied slowly. Harry's heart dropped to somewhere around his stomach. "It is very strange... If you can see into the other world, does that mean you can go back there if you wished?" Harry started to answer, but apparently it was a rhetorical question. "This also begs the question of what does it mean that you're no longer in that world, how thoroughly will this have changed things? Both worlds are currently at war, even if your world is fighting a silent one until the Ministry gets its head out of its arse."

Harry snorted a laugh at Remus' cursing; Remus gave him a look of vague apology. "As for what you should do... I don't know," the older wizard admitted again. "Unfortunately, we have a half a dozen pieces of a puzzle, but we're no closer to getting any of it put together. I wish I was able to tell you anything else, Harry, but..." He trailed off with another apologetic shrug.

Harry sighed resignedly, but nodded. Remus promised to speak with Dumbledore and his parents with the hope that somebody else might have some better insights. The rest of Harry's visit to the bookshop was spent discussing relatively unimportant subjects—both of them were trying to avert their minds from whatever it was Harry had seen. Judging by the look in Remus' eyes as Harry left the shop, they hadn't done a very good job of it.

Somehow he managed to sneak through a crowd of students that didn't consist of any of his group of friends and head back towards the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. As he walked, the scar on his forehead began to tingle, and he rubbed at it absentmindedly, wishing he had more of an understanding of all this. He had the sudden desire to find Hermione Granger and tell her everything that had happened in the hopes that she might have some insight the adults in his life hadn't had yet.

_Can't do that yet, though_, he thought resignedly, ducking into the pub before Lavender and Seamus spotted him from across the street. _She still doesn't completely trust me... _

* * *

James Potter yawned loudly as he leaned back into the cushions of his sofa. Lily sat in an armchair beside him, reading, as they waited for the flames in the fireplace to turn green, alerting them of Remus' arrival. The werewolf had sent them an owl earlier in the afternoon stating that he needed to talk to them, preferably after Piper had gone to bed. Though Remus had made a point of assuring them Caleb and Harry were perfectly fine, James strongly suspected their talk would revolve around his oldest child. It couldn't be anything too horrible—Remus wouldn't bother with owls otherwise—and though he'd been trying for hours to convince himself there was probably nothing to worry about, James continued to feel more nervous than he had in weeks.

Quite apart from James' own emotions being severely stirred up after the last month's events, the entire Ministry of Magic was on edge. The wizarding world had become accustomed to expecting some sort of activity from Lord Voldemort and his followers at least once a week—whether it be some sort of threat, an attempt to infiltrate the Ministry, or a full-on battle. But the enemy had been frighteningly silent since the attack at King's Cross, leaving the entire law enforcement department nervous and twitchy to the point of paranoia.

At that moment, the charm on the fireplace chimed to announce an arrival, and James jumped several inches and pointed his wand at the green flames before Lily could even blink. His wife raised an eyebrow at him as he flushed a bit and lowered his wand, and they waited for Remus' form to fully materialize in the fireplace. James released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when he noticed the smile on his friend's face was completely genuine and he only looked minutely worried about something.

"Nobody's hurt," he said quietly after Lily retrieved drinks for the three of them. "I'm not even certain what to make of it..."

James and Lily exchanged a bemused look and waited for Remus to continue. When he finally did, James almost wished his friend had remained silent. He'd been filled in on Harry's visions of Voldemort during the last year in his old world. He'd even been filled in on how Harry had been getting memories belonging to this world's Harry. What he couldn't figure out was how this vision had anything to do with either. He glanced at Lily, finding with relief that she looked just as confused as he felt.

"Have you spoken to Dumbledore about this yet?" Lily asked quietly.

Remus shook his head. "Not yet. I thought, for once, I'd tell you first." He glanced a little awkwardly at James as both men recalled the argument they'd had when James found out his friend had known about this parallel universe business almost from the beginning and hadn't told James or Lily. Though James had apologized for how he'd reacted at Harry's hospital bedside, there was still a slightly bitter taste in his mouth when he recalled the memory.

"I did have a theory," Remus went on hesitantly. "Given what little we've learned about all this, it seems as plausible as any other..."

Lily's eyes darted to James very briefly before she nodded for the werewolf to go on. Remus took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, and the lights in the house suddenly went out. Every hair on James' arms stood straight up as he recalled the last time this had happened. Within seconds, all three of them had lit their wands, exchanged a look, and began to investigate.

* * *

Sirius Black yawned and adjusted the grip on his wand as he looked around the empty alleyway where he waited, leaning against a wall. He'd received a message earlier that day to meet up with a contact he and James had made years ago within Voldemort's Inner Circle. Though the person hadn't been officially labeled a spy, they had been sending the two Aurors—Sirius in particular—messages regarding major attacks and information they wouldn't have had otherwise.

He raised his wand automatically at the faint sound of an Apparition _pop_. Turning towards the sound, his eyes narrowed as they adjusted to the darkness, trying to spot the newly arrived witch he'd come to meet. As he cautiously approached, he found a wand pointing at his face, the owner hidden by a disillusionment charm. Regardless that he'd known this person for so long and trusted her almost as much as he would a fellow Auror, his heart began to race in anticipation of an attack.

"Identify yourself," she said coldly, just as she did every time they met.

"Sirius Black," he replied evenly, tightening the hold of his own wand. "Last time we met, you managed to trip over a stick and fall head first into a tree."

The other's wand dropped just a little and she sighed in irritation. "You know, we really need to work out better ways of identifying each other," she said wearily.

He allowed himself a brief chuckle. "Your turn."

"First time we met in battle, I set a horde of bowtruckles on you, one of which crawled inside your robes and left some very interesting scars." He could hear the grin in her voice.

"You would bring that up," he muttered, lowering his wand fully. He waited until she removed the disillusionment charm, then gestured at a door leading to an abandoned shop Mad-Eye had procured years ago as a safe place for meetings of this nature. Mechanically, he muttered, "_Homenum revelio,"_ under his breath to check for anybody else who may be hiding out in the shop, and gestured at a pair of armchairs. "Your message sounded rather urgent," he said quietly when they got seated.

Elicia Bode, daughter of Broderick Bode from the Department of Mysteries, sighed as she lowered the hood of her cloak, revealing long chocolate brown hair. She had a rather unassuming face that Sirius normally wouldn't have looked twice at, especially given her position in the war. Over the years, though, as he'd gotten to know her a little better, he'd started to find her rather pretty, but hadn't acted on those feelings of attraction for obvious reasons.

_She'd be a hell of a lot more attractive if I didn't know who she was affiliated with,_ he found himself thinking as she got her thoughts arranged into words.

"There's going to be an attack tonight," she began quietly. Sirius sat up straighter in his chair. "A couple, actually."

"When?" he asked briskly. "Where?"

She seemed very reluctant to continue. When she did, she averted her eyes from his. "The first," she started very slowly, glancing at her wristwatch, "began about ten minutes ago, just outside Godric's Hollow."

Sirius' brow furrowed at this information sank in. "Godric's..." he muttered, realization hitting him immediately. He stood so quickly that he knocked his chair over backwards. "James!"

Elicia stood as well, blocking him from the door. "There isn't anything you can do there now," she told him. He noticed vaguely she'd removed her wand from her cloak.

"What are you on about?" he demanded, withdrawing his own wand, fully prepared to curse her out of his way. "Move."

"I can't," she said softly, regret evident in her expression. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" he asked, bemused. "For what?" The blood drained from his face as she failed to answer. "Where's the other attack, Elicia?"

Her eyes begged him to forgive her. "Here and now."

The words were the last thing he remembered.

* * *

Once they'd successfully secured Piper's bedroom without waking her, James led Lily and Remus cautiously out the front door and into the yard, searching for whatever had caused the power outage. Lily was instinctively hanging back, close to the house, in case she needed to get to her daughter in a hurry. She could see James edging closer and closer to the line where the Fidelius Charm ceased to protect them. Though she knew he wouldn't cross the boundary until he deemed it perfectly safe, her heart beat anxiously, her instincts battling between going to defend her husband against any hidden dangers and staying close to her child. As though he was reading her mind, James stopped and looked over his shoulder with the _don't even think about it_ expression. Remus must have seen it as well; she could hear his quiet chuckle as he continued scanning the yard and trees for danger.

James finished his own search of the front yard and met Remus to exchange their findings, or lack thereof. As they started back towards the house and Lily, the witch let out a quiet breath of relief. Whatever had caused the power outage hadn't been a sign of approaching danger—

A flash of red light from within the trees cut off her thought as it flew towards the wizards.

"Get down!" she shouted, raising her wand to cast a shield charm. James and Remus dropped to the ground instantly, but the light ricocheted off the invisible barrier of the Fidelius Charm.

James jumped to his feet, pulling Remus with him, and they both turned towards the attack as several more jets of light shot at them from dozens of different angles. After a few minutes of watching this, all three of them lowered their wands significantly and looked at one another in confusion.

"What the hell are they doing?" Remus asked quietly, watching the barrage of spells hit the invisible barrier.

"Testing the wards," replied James grimly.

But Lily began shaking her head slowly, coldness replacing the relief. "It's a distraction," she told them shakily.

Before they could do more than raise an eyebrow at her, Lily was yanking at the front door with the intention of rushing up to her daughter's side. The door, however, had other ideas; she knew nobody had locked it, but the handle wouldn't turn. Through her ever increasing panic, Lily managed to cast every unlocking charm she'd ever learned at Hogwarts and several more she'd learned from James—a few of which were illegal. When she failed to open the door, James pulled her away and made his own attempts, one of which was a Reductor Curse. Lily made a mental note in the tiny corner of her mind which was still able to think rationally that he deserved to be smacked for using that spell with Piper in the house, though if it had saved their daughter she wouldn't have said a word.

As it was, the curse failed to do anything, least of all to open the door, and James was now using his shoulder to ram said door while Remus ran to the windows, trying to get in that way. Lily tried Apparating directly into Piper's bedroom; for her troubles, she heard a loud _crack_ and was thrown down the stairs onto the grass. Behind them, the barrage of spells continued to erode the barrier of the Fidelius Charm. Lily rolled to her knees, trying not to watch the hooded Death Eaters inching closer.

James was cursing, Remus was shouting, and Lily felt herself beginning to cry. Then as quickly as it all began, the attack ceased. A bright light shone through an upstairs window—through _Piper's_ bedroom window—and all went silent and the downstairs lights switched back on. The three adults stared at one another in bafflement until the front door lock clicked and the door swung open of its own accord. Lily wasted no time sprinting past James up the stairs to her daughter's bedroom, silently begging for everything to be normal.

Piper's door was wide open. The blankets from the bed lay strewn across the room, and the stuffed wolf that so closely resembled Remus' werewolf form lay just below the open window. No little girl was anywhere to be seen.

Lily's vision blurred, and she only faintly heard Remus and James enter the room. Her husband said something about how she shouldn't panic just yet, that the charm they'd activated to transport Piper to the safety of the Ministry had probably just done its job; she couldn't help but hear the panic in his own tone, though. Remus sat down beside her on the bed, rubbing her back comfortingly while James raced down the stairs to firecall the Ministry.

"She can't be gone, Remus," she murmured into his chest as they waited for James' return. "I can't lose another one of my babies."

She felt Remus heave a shaky sigh and hug her more tightly. "We'll find her," he promised quietly.

They turned at the sound of footsteps outside the door. James, white as a ghost, leaned against the doorframe for support; somehow he managed to croak out, "She's not at the Ministry," before he slid down the wall to the floor.

* * *

**AN:** I think this is what they call a cliffhanger. Don't kill me. I can't update if I'm dead. Now please review. Thank you.


	5. Five

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_Five_

Sirius Black awoke to the mother of all headaches. It'd been quite a long time since he'd felt this horrible—the first time he and James had nicked a few bottles of firewhiskey from a less than vigilant Defense Against the Darks Arts professor in sixth year sprang to mind—and it took him a few minutes to reorient himself with his surroundings before he could even begin thinking about what had caused him to feel this way. Once certain he wasn't going to vomit the moment he sat up, he opened his eyes and surveyed the room he was in. It was an unfamiliar one, cold and dark and damp; possibly unfriendly.

As his eyes adjusted, Sirius began searching for anything that could tell him where he was and what had happened to him—the first, he decided would have to remain undetermined for the time being, as there were no windows or visible doors; the second wasn't quite as difficult to work out, though he wasn't sure hippogriffs had _actually_ run him over, whether he felt like they had or not. After a few deep breaths, he took a mental checklist on injuries: Head, still throbbing; no broken bones, as far as he could tell at the moment—that could change once he tried standing up; bleeding seemed minimal, only a few minor, non-life threatening cuts—

_I don't like it here_, he thought suddenly. _Too dark, too uncomfortable... Too unknown._

He sighed heavily. _Mad-Eye is going to kill me for this one._

Finally, he pushed himself off the floor, wincing as his body protested loudly and thoroughly. The headache made him dizzy and for a few moments, he worried he would fall again. Managing to stumble across the room, he regained his balance against the wall and felt his way along, searching for a door his mind was already telling him didn't exist.

_There has to be a way in..._ he kept telling himself as he made his fourth round of the room. _I didn't just _appear _here..._

He stopped in his tracks and only just refrained from smacking himself on the forehead. _Magic, you dolt. Absolutely plausible that you just appeared here, and that the person who brought you here disappeared just as quickly._

It was another fifteen minutes of knocking on the walls, testing to see if there was a sound change that would indicate a hidden door, trying his luck at Disapparition—he tried so hard, he actually lost his balance again and face-planted into the floor—before panic really began to set in.

_It would be helpful if I could just bloody remember how I got here. Then I could work out how to handle the situation a little better—_

Sirius' thoughts stopped abruptly as a tapping sound could suddenly be heard on the wall he was standing beside.

"Move aside," called an unfamiliar voice. "I'm opening the door."

His heartbeat increased as he stepped backwards into a corner, waiting for the person to enter. He could see a faint outline of a door appear in the wall and that door was opening...

* * *

Harry lay in his bed at Hogwarts, tossing and turning, though none of his dorm mates noticed due to a privacy spell he'd placed over the bed after he'd pulled the curtains. Since the incident out by the lake a few weeks back, he'd been prone to the same sort of nightmares he'd had in his own world the year before and once he'd realized what was happening, he'd started placing the charms to avoid any scenes in his dormitory like he'd had then; he was already getting enough attention during his waking hours, he didn't need any while he slept.

The teenager's eyes were screwed shut, both against fear of what he was dreaming and the intense pain that had erupted in his head. It had been quite some time since his dreams had had _this_ sort of effect on him, but try as he might, he couldn't wake himself from this, couldn't force himself not to see what he was seeing...

_He hurried down a dark, damp hallway behind a cloaked figure who continued on without breaking stride or looking around at any of the many doors they passed. Harry tried to concentrate on their location—a Muggle apartment building, perhaps, judging by the blurred golden numbers on each door set above a matching doorknocker. They finally reached the end of the hallway and the door that was their apparent destination; a door was slightly ajar, just enough to allow Harry to hear somebody's muffled cries of pain. Harry's heart rate increased to a maddening speed as the cloaked figure reached out a dark-skinned hand to push open the door. The figure entered first and disappeared into the dark, leaving Harry to enter on his own. Once past the threshold of the door, Harry realized the person he'd followed here had gone completely, and the moment that realization hit, the door slammed shut behind him._

_He gave his eyes a moment to adjust, then immediately regretted the work he put into the task: white light filled the room, nearly blinding him, revealing to Harry that he was far from alone in this strange place. Relief was quickly replaced by horror as he recognized the two other people in the room: his godfather, doubled over on the floor, looking as though he was in terrible pain, and Lord Voldemort, who obviously had full control over the situation._

"_Tell me where the boy is, Black," hissed the Dark Lord, flicking his wand minutely and causing Sirius to bite down so hard on his lip that he drew blood._

"_Have you checked Hogwarts?" Sirius groaned when Voldemort raised his wand to end the spell. "Gryffindor Tower, more specifically..."_

_Sirius' cheek cost him another flick of Voldemort's wand, his body tensed visibly and just barely managed to hold back his cry of pain._

"_I think we both know the boy is not under the ever-watchful eye of the Mudblood-lover Dumbledore," Voldemort countered._

_Sirius bit back a groan and forced himself to sit up straight to better face Voldemort. "So what makes you think I know where he is?"_

_A cold smile formed on Voldemort's face. "Whether you do or not is irrelevant. He will be found and any protecting him will be killed."_

"_Starting with me," Sirius growled, spitting blood on the floor at Voldemort's feet. "You might as well kill me, Snakeface; I'm not telling you shit."_

_The cold smile grew as Voldemort raised his wand to Sirius again, his lipless mouth beginning to speak the Killing Curse. Green light filled the room and Harry felt himself falling backwards for what felt like ages until his back touched his bed in Gryffindor Tower, his body covered in cold sweat. Struggling to regain his bearings, Harry made certain he could easily recall the details of his dream before jumping out of bed and bolting out of the dormitory._

_

* * *

_

The amount of activity within James and Lily Potter's home this late at night was becoming disconcerting. Every order member that doubled as an Auror was in attendance, all of them trying to figure out what had happened less than an hour ago that had resulted in Piper's kidnapping. They'd managed to calm down both James and Lily to the point James was no longer prepared to charge off into the night searching for clues that may not exist and falling into potential traps; now he was at least willing to wait for a plan to form before running off to his death. Lily was focusing her fear and nervous energy into something a little more productive: She and Alice Longbottom were testing the protective wards and charms around the Potter home in an attempt to work out what done so terribly wrong that night.

"What happened, Potter?" Mad-Eye growled, stomping into the room and taking control.

James blinked and sighed. "They took Piper," he said hoarsely. "We're not sure how."

"There are traces of portkey and Floo usage," Tonks told Mad-Eye.

"I was the Floo," Remus told her. "I'd only been here maybe an hour before the Death Eaters arrived."

"Which leaves us with portkey as the method of escape," Kingsley said quietly. He quickly left the room, probably to contact the Ministry about any unauthorized use of portkeys that evening.

James shook his head. "Impossible. The only people who can even activate a portkey in this house are the ones on the safe list. Lily, Remus, and I were all locked out of the house at the time."

"Could anyone have gotten into the house without your noticing?" asked Tonks.

Remus and James exchanged a look. "Possibly," James started slowly. "But like I said, to even get past the Fidelius—"

"Yes, I know, they have to be on the bloody safe list," Mad-Eye snapped.

Remus furrowed his brow. "Are you insinuating someone on the safe list took Piper?" he asked quietly, feeling the room fill with tension.

"You're out of your mind, Mad-Eye!" James said loudly, drawing Lily and Alice's attention as they reentered the house. "Why would one of our friends—"

"Don't be naïve, Potter!" Mad-Eye retorted just as loudly. "I know damn well you're not. You know as well as any of us how easily it would be to fool certain wards."

James bristled. "Nobody I've deemed safe would have kidnapped my daughter," he said with more than a hint of arrogancy.

Remus often envied how easily his friend could trust after everything he'd been through, everything he'd seen. But even as Head Auror he did rather have a tendency to let that easy trust get out of hand. Not a bone in James Potter's body could ever believe even for a second that his closest friends could ever do anything to betray him, no matter how hard others tried to convince him otherwise. Case and point: the discovery of a spy within the Order of the Phoenix some fifteen years ago. Nobody could figure out how the Death Eaters had discovered the names and home addresses of the supposedly secret Order members, nor how so many of their missions became compromised. It had led to everybody becoming suspicious of everybody else, but James very stubbornly maintained that however Voldemort was getting his information, it couldn't possibly be from the result of an Order member's betrayal.

Though a lot of the arguing was kept from Remus' hearing range, he knew that at one point Sirius had suspected him; following the mysterious disappearance of Caradoc Dearborn, now suspected to have been placed under the Imperius Curse and killed when he began to build-up an immunity to it, most of the ambushes and murders targeted at Order members—or at least there was more time between the attacks to suggest the leak in the Order had been sealed. Sirius had actually apologized to Remus, probably on James' orders, for suspecting him; Remus had decided to simply accept the apology rather than inform Sirius the suspicions had gone both ways—until that point, Remus had kept his thoughts on the Order's betrayal to himself, and with so many deaths of their friends hanging over their heads, knew it was best just to let those thoughts fade away on their own.

And it almost felt like déjà vu watching James argue with Mad-Eye about ruling out all possible suspects, regardless of how much trust James put into them.

Kingsley reentered the room just as James could be heard muttering about where Mad-Eye could shove his paranoia, and looked around the living room. "No luck, I take it?" he asked Remus.

"Not yet," Remus responded. "Did you find out anything?"

The Auror sighed and began telling them that there had been traces of a portkey being created that evening, and the starting point was in the Potters' home, specifically an upstairs bedroom. "But we can't trace who created the portkey; whoever it was went to some great lengths to cover their tracks."

The others began to discuss this and the possible ways to break through those precautions, but Remus suddenly blocked them out, his brow furrowing as his brain registered a missing face among the Aurors. "Where's Sirius?"

Unfortunately, though he'd worked to keep the volume of his voice low enough to only be heard by Kingsley over Alice's suggestions, he'd voiced his question at the exact moment when everyone had stopped speaking.

James looked around in confusion as though he'd believed his best friend had been there the whole time. "Good question, Moony," he said, looking expectantly at Kingsley.

"Left work early, didn't he?" responded Kingsley, his eyebrows raised in an expression that suggested James ought to know all this.

Remus' brow furrowed more deeply. "Since when does Sirius leave work early?" he asked. "For that matter, when does he work without James?"

"Since the Minister deemed it necessary for both Sirius and myself to take a little break from field work," Tonks said rather bitterly.

James nodded. "They've been stuck doing paperwork until the inquiry is over," he said heavily. "And he did mention he had something to do tonight."

Mad-Eye muttered something that Remus couldn't make out but that made James glare daggers at him. "Don't even think it," James said coldly to the older wizard. Remus thought he caught a bit of the message passing between the two wizards and hoped desperately James wasn't approaching the end of his (of late) very short temper. But as both Remus and Alice opened their mouths to stop whatever fight was about to break out, a large eagle owl none of them recognized flew down the chimney, a note tied to its leg. The Order members stared at it for a moment in surprise—who sent owls after midnight?—before James shook himself and strode purposefully towards the impatiently waiting bird.

"Don't touch it, Potter," Mad-Eye said urgently. "Could be a trap."

James rolled his eyes at Remus, even though half the room had the same expression on their faces as the retired Auror, but withdrew his wand and performing a few spells Remus recognized to be portkey detectors as well as testing the folded parchment for possible harmful curses or poisons. He shot Mad-Eye a glance, silently asking if he was satisfied; when Mad-Eye gave a noncommittal grunt and shrug, James quickly untied the note. The owl gave a quick hoot before taking off back up the chimney, and the others crowded around James as he unfolded the note to reveal five hurriedly scrawled words in unfamiliar handwriting:

_Find Black, find your daughter_

James paled considerably as he turned the note over and over, searching for an explanation.

"What the hell does that mean?" Tonks asked in a low voice.

"Obvious, innit?" grunted Mad-Eye.

Nobody responded or tried to expand on Mad-Eye's words. A very heavy weight had settled in Remus' stomach as James dropped the note to the ground. "It can't be what it seems," he whispered imploringly to Remus. "Sirius would never..."

Remus opened his mouth, hoping something supportive would come out rather than one of the hundred blurred thoughts currently flying through his mind, but was saved the trouble of trying to filter out anything that could get him hit by James. A flash of green light filled the room, startling all the Order members. Heart rates slowed their speed and raised wands lowered as the green flames in the fireplace took the familiar form of Dumbledore. The Headmaster stepped out of the fireplace and took in the scene before him, his eyes automatically seeking those of James, Lily, and Remus.

"I apologize for my tardiness," he told them quietly. "As I was leaving my office, a student arrived." He looked pointedly at the Potters and Remus. Remus felt James suck in a sharp breath as the realization of the student's identity hit him. "James, Lily, I wonder if I might have a word in private?"

Exchanging a brief glance, the Potters nodded and began to lead Dumbledore towards James' study. Before they disappeared from sight completely, James looked back over his shoulder and gesturing for him to join them. Dumbledore began speaking almost the moment Remus shut the door behind him.

"Harry has had a dream he very strongly believes to have been a vision," began the Headmaster. "And I believe he is correct in that assumption..."

The other three listened carefully and with increasing horror as their leader told them the details of Harry's dream. Sirius had been captured by Death Eaters and was currently being held in an abandoned, condemned Muggle apartment building, the location of which Harry had managed to supply to Dumbledore. The vision had ended with Sirius' death, which seemed to be the only part Dumbledore didn't believe.

"Sirius, I believe is a lure," Dumbledore continued. "Either for us or, far more likely, for Harry. And though I believe Sirius is still alive, this isn't to say the end of the vision could not become true if we do not act quickly."

The other three took a moment for this to sink in. Lily was the first to break the silence. "Did Harry say anything about Piper?" she asked suddenly.

Dumbledore looked at her regretfully. "He did not," he replied softly. Lily's shoulders sagged and both Remus and James reached over to rub her back in attempted comfort. "Before we proceed, I must inform you that while I believe Harry's vision to be truth, it could also be a trap. I was able to perform Legilimency on Harry, merely to ensure I understood the details of what he was telling me."

"Because he was frantic at the sight of his godfather being tortured and probably skipping the bits he didn't think were important," Remus muttered.

Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed. One of the many things that differentiate, if you'll pardon the phrases, our Harry versus this Harry we've come to know, is his connection with Lord Voldemort. Their lives have been entwined in ways we could have never foreseen, the connection deeper and more complicated than we can understand."

"What're you getting at, Albus?" James asked impatiently.

"Simply that the information we have gained is precarious at best and must be treated as such. It would not do for us to rush in, wands drawn, only to find ourselves in an undesired position," Dumbledore said.

"I think it's safe to say we're in an undesired position right now," James shot back. "What's the location of this place?"

Lily looked at him in horror. "You can't be thinking of going there!" she yelled.

"Yes, I am actually," he retorted, looking a little shocked that this came as a surprise to her. "My best friend is dying and our intelligence says our daughter is with him. What the hell would you expect me to do?"

As the witch opened her mouth to tell her husband exactly what she expected him to do, Remus stepped between them. "Lily, I'll go with him," he said quickly. "I won't let him rush in to anything, I'll bring him back, and if she is there, I will bring Piper back as well."

Lily looked at Remus for a few moments, some of the fight leaving her. She glanced again at James before turning her eyes to Dumbledore and nodding once; before any of the wizards could say anything more to her, she'd left the study.

"Take what you can get, James," Remus told his friend as he made to follow Lily out of the room. "She's terrified and the more you argue with her, the worse it's going to get, for both of you. You know it."

James looked ready to argue with him as well, but Dumbledore reminded them of his presence before he could open his own mouth. "Time is of the essence, James," he told them. "If you are to act, now is the one chance you may have."

"Where is this place?" James asked after a few moments.

Dumbledore remained silent a few moments, making certain James had control of his impatience before explaining to them the details Harry had given him of the place where Sirius was allegedly being held. Once the two wizards were confident enough that they thought they knew what they'd be walking into, the Headmaster led them back to the sitting room where the rest of the Order waited for them. While their leader briefed them on what James and Remus would be doing, James went to Lily to try and reassure her everything would work out. Several others immediately offered to go along with the two wizards, Tonks included who seemed eager to do something useful besides deskwork, but Remus stopped them quickly.

"If too many of us go," he explained quietly, "if there _is_ an ambush waiting for us, they'll know we're there before we've had a chance to do any reconnaissance. The less of us there are, the easier it will be to keep quiet and our presence unknown."

Nobody seemed particularly convinced—Tonks was giving Remus a look that silently asked if that had been a dig at her clumsiness; he decided to ignore the look for now and deal with the repercussions later—but neither James nor Remus gave them time to argue back. Dumbledore prepared a portkey that would take the two wizards less than a block from the Muggle apartment building where they could perform the charms to make them undetectable to any wards set to alert of their arrival. With one last glance around the Potters' room at his fellow Order members, Remus touched a finger to the quill portkey before he had any chance to convince himself this was a bad idea.

* * *

The moment his feet touched solid ground, James pocketed the portkey for later use and began the standard charms to avoid enemy detection, first on Remus, then on himself. Remus could have done the charms himself, but James wanted to know nothing had been forgotten—enough of his loved ones were in danger tonight and he'd be damned if he let another one be harmed on his watch.

"Ready?" Remus asked once he'd placed a _Muffliato_ charm around them.

James looked at the empty patch of air where he knew his friend to be standing. "No. You?"

"No."

James managed a small grin. "At least we're in agreement, eh?" He heard Remus' soft chuckle. "Off we go, mate..."

They approached the building that had been described to them slowly, but James paused before entering. "Moony," he said quietly. He felt Remus stop beside him. "Sirius wouldn't hurt my kids. Would he?"

He heard Remus' breath catch in surprise. The longer the werewolf hesitated, the worse James began to feel about the situation. Finally, his friend answered and James realized Remus had merely been weighing his words. "Sirius wouldn't hurt your kids if he was himself," he answered carefully. James felt Remus' hand touch his shoulder. "Whatever's going on, we'll figure it out."

James nodded, not particularly caring if Remus felt it or not. "Yeah, you keep saying that," he said wearily. "Come on, let's get this over with."

* * *

**AN:** Yeah, it's been over six months. But managed to get a spark of inspiration for plot direction, even though it took this long to actually get it to work the way I wanted it to. My apologies; hope you lot haven't lost interest. Would it be too much to ask for some reviews? Pretty please?


	6. Six

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_Six_

Harry had paced the length of Albus Dumbledore's office so many times in the last half hour that he was certain that if he looked, he would see a worn path in the carpeting. His Headmaster had told him to remain there while he'd gone to speak to Lily and James. That had only been half an hour ago, but it seemed so much longer. Harry kept replaying the vision he'd experienced in his mind, continued to see his godfather's face contorted in pain. He'd wanted to go with Dumbledore, had actually begged, to help in whatever ways he could, but Dumbledore had been adamant in directing Harry to the chair in front of his desk to await his return. But Harry had only managed to remain seated for one minute and twenty-eight seconds before his nervous energy had him up and pacing.

A low, crooning note stopped Harry in his tracks. He turned around to look for the source, immediately finding Fawkes on his perch, watching his every move. Harry smiled very slightly and started towards the phoenix. "Sorry, Fawkes," he said quietly, reaching out a hand to run along the creature's head. "Making you nervous, am I? Well, I'm a little nervous myself. Nothing's gone right since I got here; no matter how much I try to change things, they only get worse." Harry backed up until he hit Dumbledore's desk; he leaned on the edge and looked at Fawkes thoughtfully. "You know, where I'm from, you saved my life once." Fawkes crooned softly again as if in question; Harry nodded. "Bit of a long story, but I'd gotten impaled by a blind basilisk and the only things that kept me from a probably very painful death were your tears."

"There's a hell of a story in there..."

Harry jumped and turned, surprised to find his mother dusting off ashes from the Floo—he hadn't even been aware the Floo had been activated. With the briefest of glances at Fawkes, Harry headed towards Lily and tried to smile; he failed the second he got a good look at the witch. It had only been a little over an hour since he'd come to Dumbledore with his vision and he knew Sirius was like a brother to Lily, that she would want to find him just as much as anybody else, but there had to have been something else going on to make her look like _that_. And there was only one something he could think of that might have happened since he'd been safely tucked away in Dumbledore's office.

Gulping, Harry slowly approached his mother, noticing her reddened eyes as they avoided his. "H-have you found Sirius?" he asked in a whisper, unsure if he wanted the answer.

But Lily seemed to read his mind. "We don't know anything new," she told him. "But thanks to you, we do have a lead on Sirius' whereabouts; James and Sirius are there as we speak looking for clues."

Relieved there was still a chance Sirius was alive, Harry let this new bit of information sink in. He raised an eyebrow. "Is that safe?" he asked dubiously.

Lily raised an eyebrow back. "No." The honest answer made Harry crack a small grin. "But James and Remus have done this before and they'll take care of each other."

"What, they've had to rescue Sirius from captivity before?"

"Yes actually," his mother answered wearily. "But if you don't mind, that's a story for another day, I think."

Harry nodded a little, still none the wiser about why his mother seemed on the verge of panic. "So not to sound rude or ungrateful, but why are you here?"

Lily gave a tiny smile as her eyes betrayed an inner battle of some sort in her mind; to Harry, it seemed as though she wanted desperately to say something, but was uncertain if she should. "I wanted to see you," she eventually said. "Albus refused to let you leave the school with everything that's going on and I thought we both could use the company."

Harry waited for her to expand, but she remained silent for the moment as she led him back to the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. He didn't like the silence that followed. Lily's eyes darted to his face every few seconds, a muscle in her jaw fighting against the urge to speak. It was a look he knew well thanks to Hermione. He'd lost track of the number of times his friend refrained from commenting on something he and Ron were discussing or doing, usually when it involved something that kept them from schoolwork. Whatever was on his mother's mind, she wasn't going to share it on her own.

"What's wrong?" Harry finally blurted after the fifth time the witch had drawn in a breath to speak only to release it again in annoyance at herself.

She stared at him for a moment or two before nodding resolutely. "We were attacked tonight," she began quietly. Harry felt his heart skip a beat as she told him of the Death Eaters allegedly sent as a distraction to kidnap Piper. She told him of the note they'd received about Piper being wherever Sirius was and how James had almost immediately jumped at the chance to get out and do something that might help find his daughter and best friend.

Harry remained quiet when she finished. He didn't know how to respond even if he could manage to speak; he could sense how terrified and lost Lily was in this situation, especially considering only three weeks had gone by since she lost the son she'd known since she'd given birth fifteen years ago.

There were a hundred questions flooding Harry's brain, but he couldn't find the voice to ask even one—why would the Death Eaters take Piper? What could a five-year-old have done to piss off Voldemort? Harry rolled his eyes at himself; what had a fifteen-month old done to piss him off? Existed. He recalled hearing of a prophecy from the _other_ Harry, the one originally from this world, about him being the only one with the ability to vanquish the Dark Lord. If that prophecy existed in his old world, Harry knew it would explain a hell of a lot.

But there was no prophecy that referred to Piper, was there? There was nothing about her from which Voldemort could benefit.

_Except me,_ Harry thought suddenly. _Maybe he's hoping I'd be the one to run off on a rescue mission. And that's probably why Dumbledore kept me here too; he probably thought he same. _

_They'd be right. _Harry knew if he'd been given half the chance or less, he'd have gone off to search for Sirius on his own. Lily had arrived before he'd gotten the chance to think of it.

"Harry."

The boy had been so lost in his thoughts that he'd barely heard his name. His eyes snapped away from a spot on the carpet to meet his mother's. He felt slightly guilty as he realized he'd started planning a way out of Hogwarts to help James and Remus find Sirius and Piper when Lily needed him here. She'd said as much when she'd arrived, hadn't she? He looked at her questioningly.

She hesitated again. "Albus told us about your vision," she said quietly. "And I know it's probably not something you can control, but..." Her voice trailed off and she shook her head, deciding not to continue.

Harry was curious, though. "What?" he whispered.

She looked at him regretfully. "Just..." Lily took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Is there any way that you can see where Piper is and if she's okay?"

The boy felt winded. He immediately knew the answer to the question, but the look of desperate hope on Lily's face stopped him from saying it aloud. He wished there was a different answer...

"I don't know," he whispered, staring at his shoes. "I've only ever been able to see what he sees, to feel what he feels. And it only started last year. If there is a way to control it, I haven't learned it yet..."

Lily's eyes shut tightly in disappointment and Harry wished he could take the words back. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

Her eyes snapped open again and she shook her head. "No," she said quickly. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't ask that of you. I know if there was something you could do, you'd do it." Harry nodded and they were again thrown into an awkward silence.

Fawkes let out a long, soft note and Harry felt some of the tension leave his body. Lily managed a tiny, yet sincere, smile as she looked over her son's shoulder at the phoenix. "So, while we're waiting for news, how about you tell me about that basilisk?"

* * *

James and Remus entered the Muggle apartment building as silently as they could manage, the Auror wordlessly performing charms to check for hidden dangers. They crept along the hallways slowly, their wands at the ready and pointed at every door they passed, searching for the one Harry had seen in his vision. Twice, one of the wizards stopped in his tracks, causing the other to do the same, because he'd though he'd heard something. Both times it had been concluded the noise heard had been caught by a rat or some other harmless entity.

Remus was beginning to feel impatience and frustration rolling off his friend as they continued not to find their quarry. He knew James wanted nothing more than to abandon the pretense of doing things the safe way, to sprint through this place calling out his daughter's and best friend's names so they could get out of here and put this entire ordeal behind them. But no matter how many times Remus felt James' arm twitch with the force of restraining himself from doing just that, James continued executing his Auror training, which included the discipline to remain quiet and hidden until further information was gathered.

The initial surveillance of the building turned up nothing, not even in the spot Harry had seen Sirius being tortured by Voldemort; the place was abandoned and it seemed they were the first to step foot her in months. And the more they looked, the less likely it seemed that they'd actually come here for any good reason. Remus knew exactly what was going through James' mind as they reached the topmost floor and removed their disillusionment charms: they'd come here on Harry's word, because he had been so certain that what his dream or vision had told him was truth, and thanks to that, they'd just wasted the better part of an hour that could have been used for searching out other, true leads.

"I'm going home," James said quietly, his voice shaking in frustration. "For all we know, Sirius and Piper have already been found."

Remus began to point out that had that been the case, somebody would have sent them a message, but he kept his peace for the moment. As they reached the stairwell, however, he felt a prickling sensation spread throughout his body; it was a feeling he knew very well and every time he felt it, it meant he wasn't as alone as previously believed. He looked over at James to see if he'd picked up on the same thing, but the Auror's mind was far too preoccupied.

Sliding his wand out of his cloak sleeve, Remus held his silence. If they were being followed, calling attention to the situation could mean sudden attack before either wizard could prepare himself. So instead, Remus continued walking beside James, his senses fully open to detect further danger.

They reached the top of the stairs when James stopped suddenly. "Moony," he said under his breath, "I don't think we're alone..."

Remus nodded minutely and on James' signal, they swung around in unison and began casting stunning spells at their unseen foe. Both spells were expertly blocked and the attack was returned. Remus had always been a decent dueler and James was one of the best. Between the two of them, they should have been able to take down their adversary with minimal effort; the other wizard retained the ability to fight and was hidden from them by what Remus thought might be a disillusionment charm. While James fired disarming charms and full body binds, Remus put up shield charms to protect them from the rapid fire aimed at them.

More than once, Remus and James had to pause in their offensive attack as their enemy's increasingly more damaging spells broke through shield charms and they were hit with cutting curses that tore into their skin. Every time he was hit, James became angrier and his spells were becoming more harmful too whoever was on the receiving end—Remus was almost certain he'd heard the word _Crucio_ intermingled with other jinxes and curses that came out of James' mouth. The curse had missed, but the other wizard was caught off guard just enough that Remus could aim a tripping jinx at his legs, knocking him flat on his back.

Even this didn't halt the attack; before either James or Remus could stun their enemy, they were being hit by a spell that caused the feeling of a blindfold suddenly being placed over their eyes, rendering them incapable of accurately defending themselves.

Remus heard the attacker climb to his feet, heard James cursing as he tried to regain his eyesight, heard the attacker take a shuddering breath and, almost in slow motion, heard a very familiar voice mutter a spell used by Aurors that both disarmed and bound an opponent's hands behind his back. Without waiting for the spell to be fully cast, Remus shot off another stunning spell, hoping his aim wasn't too far off. When he heard their adversary's grunt as he fell to the ground once again, he breathed a sigh of relief just before his vision returned. He looked over at James, who looked ready to kill, and grabbed the wizard's wand arm to push it away as he presumably raised his wand to do just that.

James shot him a look of utmost annoyance. Remus ignored it, holding his friend's arm away from the stunned wizard until he finally lowered it to his side. Once confident James had his temper in check, Remus jerked his head towards the fallen wizard. "I think it's Sirius," he told James in a whisper. "No one else could recover from my tripping jinx that quickly." And indeed, in the many years since Remus had learned and perfected that particular jinx, none of his friends had gotten nearly as accommodated to it as Sirius, who had been Remus' practice target at least five times a week.

The anger almost immediately left James' face, only to be replaced with concern and regret. Both of them knew full well what spells James had cast and what curse he'd been _prepared_ to cast had Remus not stopped him.

With a muttered, "oh hell," James closed the distance between them and where they believed the other wizard to be, moving his wand in an upward motion to lift all disguising spells. Remus reached the two of them as Sirius' face was revealed. James immediately began casting a status check spell over Sirius' body while Remus performed the necessary healing spells and countered charms as the spell revealed them. Once finished, neither wizard willing to acknowledge how close they'd come to killing their friend, they reversed the stunning spell and stepped back as Sirius began to stir. On instinct, their wands rose as Sirius' eyes opened; though they were certain of the wizard's identity, Sirius didn't start attacking his best friends with such gusto willingly. The words Imperius Curse crossed Remus' mind several times since they'd identified their attacker and if that was the case, they curse would still be active on some level and there was no telling what he might do when he got back his bearings.

The two of them stood silently, watching every little move Sirius made: his eyes opening slowly; his hand reaching up to press against his forehead as though he had horrible headache; as he, very carefully, braced his hands against the floor on either side of his body and began to sit up.

Sirius looked around him for several moments before his eyes settled on his friends. He raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss the party?" he asked hoarsely.

Remus glanced at James out of the corner of his eye, waiting for him to ask a standard identifying question. James' jaw remained tightly shut. He looked back at Sirius and thought for a moment. "What happened to my first wand?" he asked.

Sirius' brow furrowed for half a second; he looked as though he wanted to ask why he was being questioned, but held back. "Broken," he began. "When we were nineteen. During a duel, you were disarmed and dropped your wand. I tripped over a stunned Death Eater and fell on it. I've still got the scar on my thigh where the splinters stabbed me. Wanna see?"

Almost in unison, James and Remus rolled their eyes and lowered their wands, and Sirius realized it was safe to stand up. "Why the third degree?" the wizard asked, then took a look at the angry look on James' face and changed his question. "Do I even want to know what I did?"

"How'd you get here?" Remus asked quietly.

Sirius sighed. "I don't know. Last thing I really remember is being at word until about five minutes ago." He looked around the hallway again and shook his head. "I've never seen this place before in my life. Where are we?"

"Sure you've never seen it?" James asked roughly. Remus prepared to place himself between the two friends in case things got hostile. "You expect me to believe you've got no memory of anything that just happened? I know you better than that, Sirius, and I know goddamn well when you're lying!"

"What the hell's your problem?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Where's Piper?" James shot back.

Sirius blinked several times as he registered what had just been said. "Is that a trick question?" he asked Remus.

Remus shook his head. "Piper was kidnapped," he explained quietly. "The house was attacked tonight, we think as a diversion to get us out of the house. And by the time we got back in, she was gone."

"And we got a very helpful hint that if we found you, we'd find her," James finished in a sneer. "One more chance, Black: where's my daughter?"

The other two wizards' eyebrows shot up at how James had addressed his best friend. "I don't know where Piper is, James," Sirius said carefully. "I swear."

Rather than being calmed by Sirius sincerity that he indeed had no idea where Piper was, James was further incensed. He closed the remaining distance between himself and Sirius, grabbed a fistful of the other wizard's shirt, and shoved him roughly against a wall, his wand pointed at his friend's throat before Remus could do anything about it. "Bullshit," James hissed in Sirius' face. "What did you do to her?"

Sirius' eyes were wide and vaguely frightened, though anger was beginning to fill them. Remus stood aside, unsure how to undo this. Neither of them had ever seen James behave quite like this. Before anybody could say another word, a bright white light filled the hallway, lasting only a second; when it disappeared, all three wizards struggled to regain their bearings and eyesight.

"What the hell was that?" asked Sirius. James had relinquished his grip on him and was blinking rapidly in order to focus.

Remus shook his head, leaning against a wall for support; the brightness of the light had left him disoriented. "Dunno..." he muttered, shutting his eyes tightly against the spinning room.

Sirius carefully pushed him away from the wall, edging further from James' reach. "Maybe we should get out—"

"Shh!"

Remus and Sirius looked at James. The Head Auror's hazel eyes were wide open as he seemed to be listening desperately to something. Remus held his breath, willing himself to hear whatever it was James had heard. Very faintly, he could hear a muffled sob from somewhere down the hall. His eyes snapped up to meet James' as he recognized the sob as the one Piper used when her brothers left her out of whatever they were doing.

"Piper," James breathed. He turned and began sprinting down the hallway with Remus and Sirius right on his heels. They skidded to a stop in front of a closed door; James waved his wand at it, unlocking and opening it in an instant. He disappeared inside the door and Sirius lit the tip of his own wand, performing the spells that checked for danger; James should have done this before even opening the door, but obviously was too preoccupied with other things. Remus' eyes scanned the empty room, finding nothing but a pile of blankets where James had fallen to his knees, holding his daughter closely. Sighing in relief at the sight, seeing Piper seemed completely unharmed, he approached them. "James," he said quietly.

The wizard reluctantly lifted his head and looked at his friend in question.

"We should get her home."

James nodded and stood carefully, bundling the sniffling Piper in his arms along with one of the blankets. The little girl's face was buried in her father's shoulder and her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck. "Moony," James whispered as they turned; Remus noticed he didn't acknowledge Sirius, who remained in the doorframe. "The portkey's in my pocket."

Remus reached for the indicated pocket and retrieved the portkey, reactivating it for the return trip with a tap of his wand. He held it out for James to touch and waited for Sirius to join them.

The expression on Sirius' face was one Remus hadn't seen in quite some time, the last following the death of Frank Longbottom. The two of them had been ambushed by a dozen Death Eaters and Frank had been killed almost immediately according to Sirius' story. Sirius himself had come back mostly unscathed and several Order members had decided his story didn't quite add up; how could it be possible that Sirius could overpower so many enemies on his own without meeting the same fate as Frank? The suspicion had lasted weeks and throughout that period, Sirius wore the same expression currently in place on his face: it was confusion mingled with doubt and fear of what was happening.

Before Remus had the chance to fully comprehend this, he and his friends were being pulled by their navels through color and sound until they landed roughly in the Potters' living room. Several surprised gasps met their ears and somebody had to brace James to keep him from falling over with Piper in his arms. The Order members immediately crowded around the two of them, leaving Remus to watch Sirius watch them. He wanted to pull Sirius into the other room and ask him exactly what he remembered, to try and help him remember what had happened; now wasn't the time, though. He and Piper were home safely and that was what mattered. They could figure out everything else later.

He had expected Lily to rush into the room and wrench her daughter from James, but the witch was nowhere to be seen. "She's at Hogwarts," Alice was telling James, probably in reply to his questioning. "Went to go see Harry."

"She will return momentarily," Dumbledore informed them, replacing his wand in his robes.

He'd barely finished speaking before the fireplace lit up with green flames and Lily was seen stumbling out. Immediately she latched herself onto her husband and daughter, and Remus didn't think they'd be seeing her face much the rest of the evening. Glancing over at the fireplace, he saw Lily had brought along a visitor. Harry stood on the fireplace hearth awkwardly, staring between his family and Sirius both relieved and longingly.

Remus nudged Sirius with his elbow to get his attention. "Harry's been worried about you..." he said leadingly.

Sirius looked around in confusion for a moment before locating the boy. He nodded at Remus and crossed the room to his godson to assure him that he was alright.

"Hell of a night," said a voice behind Remus.

He turned and found Tonks leaning against the archway leading to the front hallway. "Understatement, I think," he replied dryly. The other Order members were being thanked by Dumbledore for their quick replies to the Potters' pleas for help and began to leave. "Hell of a month might be more like it."

Tonks' vocal agreement was interrupted by a large yawn. She glanced at James, then Sirius before looking at Remus again. "Tell them I'll see them tomorrow?"

Remus nodded. "Of course. I'll show you out."

He took it upon himself to thank everyone again for James and Lily, and watched as each of them headed out the door, eventually disappearing into the night.

* * *

**AN: **Congratulations, readers, you've managed to guilt me into another chapter. Though I suppose you deserve it for sticking around after such a long hiatus... Cliff hanger resolved, for all those who were cursing me for leaving you with yet another one. I've got a pretty decent idea where this is heading in the short term, so hopefully I'll get another chapter out before another six months pass by. 1

Happy New Year! Please review!


	7. Seven

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_Seven_

In the hours following the return of Sirius Black and Piper Potter, dozens of questions remained unanswered. Sirius continued to insist he'd had nothing to do with Piper's disappearance, that he didn't know how he'd gotten into that Muggle apartment building. Piper couldn't tell them who had taken her from her bed; between her being terrified at the situation and the use of masks by her abductors, there hadn't been much she could tell her parents. The majority of the Order had returned to their own homes, assuring the Potters that they would be available as needed. Dumbledore returned to the school around dawn, allowing Harry to remain home for a few hours; Caleb would be informed about the attack shortly and sent home as well.

As the sun rose, James and Lily had taken Piper to bed, and remained with her. Remus headed off to the kitchen to start breakfast for himself, Sirius, Harry, and Caleb. Just as he set the bacon to fry, Harry wandered in, pulled himself on the counter beside Remus, and stared at his feet.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked quietly.

Harry looked at him, torn. "What about my vision?" he asked in a whisper.

Remus focused on the frying bacon as he tried to decide how to answer. It hadn't been lost on him that the vision he'd had concerning Sirius hadn't seemed accurate to what had _actually_ happened to Sirius. The vision had suggested Sirius had been killed by Voldemort's wand; as far as James and Remus had been able to tell, there hadn't been anybody else in the building. He glanced at Harry out of the corners of his eye, seeing the boy with a rather desperate look in his eyes, and wishing he had a better answer for him. "I don't know, Harry," he said quietly. Harry's shoulders sagged. "It could be anything from a false vision planted by Voldemort to lure you out of the school to..."

"Something that happened in the other world," Harry said dully.

Remus nodded at him. "And considering what you told me yesterday, that you've experienced other visions of the other world, I have to lean towards the latter."

Harry's head fell backwards, resting against the cabinet above him, his eyes closed tightly. "And there's nothing we can do about it, is there? If Voldemort really got hold of the Sirius in my world, he's dead."

So accustomed to always having an answer to placate people, particularly the Potter children, Remus felt helpless. It was quite obvious this Harry had as much affection for his godfather as this world's Harry, the one they'd lost, did for _his_ godfather. And they were very different people, these two Sirius Blacks. One had been imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years, cut off from everything and everyone he ever loved, nearly completely destroyed by dementors. The other Sirius had never spent more than a few hours in Azkaban Prison, was successful and happy, and had had his friends at his side every time tragedy struck to pull him out of any potential depression.

Even though Harry had started to fit in with the universe he'd been thrown into, even though there were times when the people who knew what had happened started to forget that he hadn't been there all along, it was clear to Remus Harry hadn't forgotten. His mind still thought about the people he'd left behind, worried for them, and refused to assimilate himself fully with their world; he still felt he belonged elsewhere.

"I wish there was something I could say that would make you feel better, Harry," Remus said quietly. "But unfortunately we still don't understand what happened to you or if it's even possible to make contact with your world."

Harry nodded pensively as Sirius entered the room. Remus looked between the two of them for a moment before Harry swallowed heavily, hopped off the counter, and announced he wanted a nap before returning to Hogwarts.

"What's up with him?" Sirius asked, leaning against the counter beside Remus.

Remus sighed. "He's way too young to have this much on his mind," he said, shaking his head.

Sirius nodded, glancing up at the ceiling. "And James?" he asked hesitantly. "Was there something more than paternal panic motivating his actions back there?"

"I think that was a lot of it," Remus told him. "But between the note we received and Harry's vision, the evidence did suggest you may have had something to do with..." He trailed off with a glance at Sirius' face; it wasn't too early in the day for his friend to take a leaf from Mad-Eye Moody's book and turn him into something small and furry, and bounce him around the room. Remus sighed. "You really don't remember anything that happened last night?"

"I really don't remember anything that happened last night," Sirius said dryly. "If I had, I'd have told you."

"You know how James is, how he's been since what happened on the platform. He's not going to accept that as a suitable excuse, Padfoot." Sirius growled a little under his breath in frustration. "Come on, think..."

While Remus finished preparing breakfast and called Caleb in to eat, he periodically glanced at Sirius, finding his friend's brow deeply furrowed in thought as he fought to recall what had happened to him the night before. Anything from a memory charm, to a Confundus charm, to the Imperius Curse could have been responsible for his memory loss, and none of them would be a good enough reason for James not to accuse Sirius of kidnap.

James Potter's temper had always been a force to be reckoned with. It had gotten shorter after leaving Hogwarts as the war grew steadily worse, more explosive after Peter had been Kissed, and much less predictable over the last few weeks, since the attack on Platform 9 ¾. James was fiercely protective of his friends and family, and refused to tolerate anybody taking advantage of them or hurting them in any way. The thought that James' best friend since age eleven could have possibly had something to do with his daughter's kidnapping wouldn't change James' reaction to the situation. Though he'd made a good show of forgiving Sirius for allowing himself to be stunned by Lucius Malfoy aboard the Hogwarts Express on 1 September, Remus knew James hadn't quite forgiven Sirius completely, just as he was still very slightly angry with Remus for holding back the information that Harry had been victim of some strange portal from a parallel universe.

After breakfast, which Lily had caught the very tail end of as she'd come to get a drink, Caleb and Harry had to return to the castle. Both boys hugged their mother and promised to owl later in the week, while she promised to tell James bye for them. All three adults noticed Harry had been quite subdued as he left, but Remus didn't think there was much they could do for him at the moment, at least not until he was able to have a word with Dumbledore. With a weak smile to the wizards, Lily retreated back up the stairs to Piper's bedroom, leaving Sirius and Remus alone again.

They sat together at the table, Remus staring at Sirius, Sirius staring at the table broodingly. "Let me ask you this, Moony," Sirius said in a low, determined voice. "Even if I had taken Piper—_which I didn't!_—why her? Wouldn't Harry be the better target?"

"Probably," Remus agreed. "But Piper was the only one of James' children not under the very strict protection of Albus Dumbledore and the rest of Hogwarts castle. Once Lily, James, and I were occupied with a Death Eater invasion, Piper was without her parents' protection and the chance was too good to pass up."

"They knew James would go after her," Sirius continued slowly.

"And perhaps they captured you in order to ambush me and James."

The two friends stared at one another. "They were using me to kill you and James," Sirius eventually said heavily. "Me and Piper."

"Yeah," Remus said quietly. He decided not to mention how close James had been to killing Sirius. Glancing at the clock, Remus cursed. "I need to get to Hogsmeade. You going into work today?"

Sirius nodded. "If James isn't, I need to; don't want to call too much attention to this, do we?"

"Come by the shop when you get off; we'll have a drink together, maybe get a chance to relax a bit."

Sirius snorted. "You're on," he told him. "And maybe one of these days we'll realize relaxing is just our way of asking for trouble."

* * *

Harry was having a bad day. While he was beyond relieved that both Sirius and Piper had been found safe and unharmed, he couldn't avoid the thought that while all was well in this world, or at least as well as it ever was, in another world, things were getting worse. Remus had done his best to seem concerned when Harry had posed his concerns about the godfather in his old world having been captured, questioned, and possibly killed, but Harry could just tell for all his sympathy, the welfare of people in alternate universes weren't high up on his list of worries at the moment. Harry didn't blame him for that, not one bit; there was enough to worry about in _this_ universe without adding things none of them could help.

Currently, Harry couldn't help but feel as though if he'd been in his own world Sirius would still be safe wherever he'd been hiding—he vaguely wondered if he was still lying low with Lupin, as Dumbledore had asked him to do at the end of the last school term—or at least if he had been captured, Harry could have saved him.

_Don't be an idiot,_ said a small voice in the back of his head. Harry very nearly stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of the corridor at the familiarity of the voice. _Nothing you could have done would have prevented this..._

_And you know this how...?_ Harry thought back a bit cautiously.

The voice seemed to sigh and whatever reply it gave was drowned out by a high-pitched squeal somewhere behind him. Muttering words under his breath that could have caused his mother to use a soap charm on his mouth, Harry continued walking, picking up his pace as he headed towards the Great Hall.

_So not in the mood for this..._

Unfortunately, Lavender Brown caught up with him a few corridors away from his destination. "Where were you, Harry?" she asked in a voice that made him wonder if someone had introduced her to several helium balloons. "I've been looking everywhere for you since last night! Seamus said you left the dorm in a hurry!"

Harry muttered something that might have been "I had a headache," but he wasn't entirely sure. "Went to Madam Pomfrey."

Lavender launched into some tirade about how she'd take care of him and that it didn't look like Madam Pomfrey had done _anything_ to help him at all and she'd get some chicken soup from the house-elves and sit with him in the common room all day if that's what he wanted.

Though he'd been trying to find a way to do it since he realized this world's Harry had the most annoying girlfriend ever, he'd been determined to do it nicely so as to not hurt Lavender's feelings. But after last night, having not gotten any sleep at all, not to mention the stress he'd been feeling at the thought that his godfather could be lying hurt or dead somewhere in another universe, Harry found he'd had enough of Lavender Brown.

"Will you just back off?" he yelled at her. Her eyebrows jumped high on her forehead. "Honestly, don't you have anything better to do than following me around all bloody day?"

Her wide eyes filled with tears. "Harry, you're just tired..."

"No, I'm not!" he replied, paying no heed to the crowd of students that were approaching them on their way to breakfast. "You're clingy and annoying and rude. I'm sick of it. Leave me alone."

"A-are you breaking up with me?" Lavender whimpered, her bottom lip trembling.

Harry glared at her. "What do you think?" Without another word he continued on to the Great Hall, ignoring the wailing that was coming from behind him. As he approached the entrance, he sighed a little guiltily, then promptly rolled his eyes as he spotted Caleb standing with Hermione beside a suit of armor. His younger brother's lips were trembling as well, though his condition was caused by suppressed laughter rather than whatever it was Lavender was feeling at the moment.

"About time," Caleb said, snickering and heading towards the Gryffindor table.

"Let me guess, I'm a prat for behaving like I did," he said dully to Hermione.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Caleb told me what happened last night," she said, ignoring his statement for the moment. "It's enough to set off anyone's temper..." She suddenly smirked. "But I do agree with Caleb, it is about time."

Harry rolled his eyes but snorted in amusement as Hermione led the way into the Great Hall. He glanced back over his shoulder to find Lavender was still in the middle of the corridor sobbing into Parvati's shoulder while Parvati told Dean and Seamus what Harry had just done. "That's going to bite me in the arse," he muttered under his breath.

"Sorry?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing."

"Well, since you probably won't be welcomed with your usual breakfast crowd, would you like to join us?" Hermione said.

"Erm..." Harry glanced down the Gryffindor table, immediately spotting Caleb sitting with Ron and Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom. "Not sure I'll be overly welcome with that lot either."

"Don't worry about them."

Ron glanced up from his breakfast as Harry and Hermione approached; his eyes narrowed. "He bothering you, Hermione?" he asked coolly.

"No, Ron, he isn't," Hermione replied wearily, sitting beside the redheaded boy. Only after she raised an eyebrow did Harry finally take a seat beside his brother. "I invited Harry to have breakfast with us."

"Why?" Ron retorted.

Hermione's reply was a glare. Ron rolled his eyes and went back to his eggs." Caleb was just telling us about your sister," Neville said after a few minutes' silence. "She's all right?"

Harry nodded, getting the impression Neville was the only person sitting with him that his other self had really gotten along with before recently. "Scared, naturally, but she wasn't hurt as far as anyone can tell," he answered, pouring syrup over his pancakes.

Neville nodded, and conversation after that was polite, even if Ron kept shooting suspicious glances between Harry and Hermione between their discussions.

"Think you can help me with some of Transfiguration work?" Caleb asked Harry as they finished their meal. "The button I was supposed to made from a beetle still has antennae..." Caleb frowned a little in thought before shaking himself.

"I thought you were supposed to be the genius?" Harry teased, grinning at the younger boy. "What makes you think I can do something you can't?"

"Genius or not, I'm overlooking something, and if McGonagall figures out I haven't learned the spell, I'll be in detention for the next month," Caleb said dryly. "Please?"

Chuckling, Harry nodded. He'd wanted to take his broomstick out to the Quidditch pitch, to see if he couldn't clear his head a bit, but, he reasoned, he could do the same helping Caleb. "Sure. Meet you in the common room?"

Beaming, Caleb finished off his pumpkin juice and left the Great Hall with Ginny. Harry looked around the table, rather startled to find Hermione and Neville had moved down the table a bit to work on some assignment or another, leaving him and Ron essentially alone. Harry tried to smile at Ron, but Ron's glare only deepened.

"What're you playing at?" Ron asked in a loud whisper, glancing over to see whether Hermione was fully occupied.

Harry's eyebrows rose. "Sorry?"

"Whatever it is you're planning, you can forget it now," Ron replied. "Haven't you done enough to Hermione?"

"I'm not planning anything," Harry said slowly.

"Really?" Ron said disbelievingly. "So it's all just coincidence that when we left before summer hols, she could barely stand the sight of you, and now she's inviting you to eat with us?"

Harry shrugged, starting to feel defensive. "Her aunt brought her to my birthday party and we talked, and I apologized to her," he said. "She accepted."

Ron's eyes narrowed, but couldn't seem to come up with anything more to say to Harry at the moment. He shook his head, stood up, and walked out of the Great Hall without a word Hermione or Neville, both of whom immediately found Harry. "What'd you say to him?" Neville demanded.

"Nothing!" Harry said honestly.

"He doesn't trust Harry, Neville," Hermione said, again, wearily. "He thinks Harry's only being nice to us as part of some prank."

"Is he?" Neville asked frankly, looking over at Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes. "No, he's not," he answered dully. "I should go help Caleb..."

As he left the Great Hall, he could hear Hermione chastising Neville for being rude to Harry. He knew Neville hadn't meant anything by his question, that he was merely covering his bases and protecting his friends, but it was getting difficult to be friendly with people that he'd once known and gotten on with very well, when they now looked at him suspiciously and automatically assumed he had some sort of ulterior motive when he was being nice to them.

He stopped in his tracks briefly, uncertain if that made any sense even to his own mind.

_You'll get through to them,_ said the faint voice at the back of his mind. _You got through to Dad, didn't you? If you ask me, that was your biggest hurdle. The others will come along; just be patient._

_Yeah,_ Harry thought back ruefully,_ not my best trick._

The voice snickered.

* * *

Sirius entered the Three Broomsticks just after six o'clock and looked around the full pub for Remus. The bookshop didn't normally close till eight, but considering the state of things with the Potters, Remus had amended the hours of operation in order to make himself more available should his friends need him. For his own part, Sirius hadn't gotten much work done during the day himself. Kingsley, Tonks, and Alice kept shooting him odd glances when they thought he wasn't looking, and when he found them gathered around Kingsley's cubicle, they broke off their conversation very abruptly; Sirius had the suspicion he had been the topic of discussion.

Luckily for all of them, there hadn't been any pressing matters to attend to that day—Sirius was unsure if he could focus enough to succeed in a duel should it come to that. He was tired, not to mention confused; he'd spent most of his free time trying to recall what had happened between the time he'd left the Ministry and when Remus and James had found him in that building. Regardless of his efforts to convince Remus that there had been no way he would have ever kidnapped Piper, in his own mind, he was having a more difficult time than ever refuting it. There was an entire block of time and memory that seemed to have been wiped completely from his memory...

His brow furrowed suddenly at the thought, something niggling at the back of his mind, but the more he tried to pull it forward, the further back it moved. Cursing under his breath, Sirius shook his head, finally spotting his friend at the back of the room sitting at a corner table, watching him with his own furrowed brow. Sirius sent him a forced grin, gesturing at the bar in question; Remus shook his head and held up a full glass of what looked like firewhiskey, even at this distance. His own drink in hand, Sirius weaved through the crowd of people towards Remus, sitting across from the werewolf with a grateful sigh.

"How was your day?" Sirius asked flatly, taking a sip of his drink.

Remus snorted a laugh. "Long," he said tiredly. "Between the school village visit yesterday and everything that happened last night, I feel like the full moon is much closer than it actually is."

Sirius managed a sympathetic groan for his friend as he tried to stifle his own yawns. Small talk commenced, none of it more serious than Quidditch; it was an unspoken rule between the Marauders that down time was just that and no brooding was allowed. Sirius tried to follow the rules, but like every good Marauder, the task seemed a bit beyond him at the moment. The niggling thought at the back of his mind had returned. It felt as though someone was watching him very closely. Surreptitiously, he glanced around the pub carefully, trying to find the source of the feeling. The only likely person was a cloaked, hooded shadow hiding in the corner of the pub. Sirius averted his eyes momentarily and glanced back as casually as he could manage; the shadow had shifted very slightly and Sirius swore he saw a flash of blue eyes as a door beside the shadow opened and closed quickly. In those few seconds, what felt like a wave of air hit Sirius, winding him. His eyes widened and he sucked in a deep breath, and flashes of images passed before his eyes.

When the sensation ended, Sirius was breathing heavily and opened his eyes finding Remus looking at him concernedly. His friend had stood up, moved around the table, and had even withdrawn his wand as he asked Sirius repeatedly if he was okay.

"M'okay," Sirius mumbled, gratefully accepting a glass of water from a waitress. Once he'd managed to convince the few concerned pub workers who'd gathered of this, they finally left him and Remus alone again. Remus was the only person in the pub who wasn't convinced. Sirius took a deep breath, finishing off his water.

"What happened?" Remus asked in a low voice, leaning over the table. "Looked like you hit a brick wall..."

"That's about how it felt," Sirius said, trying to smile wryly. Remus wasn't sharing in his amusement. Taking a deep breath, Sirius leaned forward as well, making certain he and Remus would be the only people who would hear this. "I remembered something. About last night."

Remus' eyes widened. "What?" he asked rather breathlessly.

Frowning in concentration, Sirius tried to make sense of the fractured sounds and images he'd heard and seen a few minutes before. "A letter," he said quietly. "I got a letter before I left the Ministry last night."

"What did it say?"

Shaking his head, Sirius tried to recall the moment, but all he got for his trouble was a sharp pain behind his eyes. "I don't know," he said, feeling frustrated.

"Did it come to your office?" Remus persisted. "Maybe it's still there..."

"No," Sirius said in certainty. "I burned it."

Remus looked dumbfounded. "You burned it?" he repeated. Sirius nodded, averting his eyes from his friend's skeptical ones. "So you remember getting a letter, you remember reading a letter, you remember _burning_ a letter, but you don't remember what the letter said?"

"What the hell do you want me to say, Remus?" Sirius whispered angrily. "I don't remember!"

Sitting back in his chair, Remus shot him an apologetic look and opened his mouth to voice it his apology, but he was cut off as a pearly white lynx appeared on the floor between the two of them. Exchanging a startled look and glancing around the pub to check if anyone else had seen it as well, both wizards bent towards the floor to listen to Kingsley's message.

"Attack in Cornwall. One death," the lynx said in Kinsley's deep voice. "Meet at the outskirts." The lynx seemed to hesitate. "Bring Lupin."

As Kingsley's patronus disappeared, Sirius thought he saw Remus' face pale, but in the next instant, his friend's face was resolute. "Meet you there?" he asked hoarsely.

Sirius nodded and stood, leading the way out of the pub towards the Hogsmeade Disapparition point.

* * *

**AN:** See? It wasn't six months before an update. Are we happy to see the end of Harry/Lavender? Might still be a bit of backlash from that, but nothing to worry about... Oh, and there is a reason for Piper's kidnapping and Sirius' disappearance. Please review.


	8. Eight

**Minor Character Death.  
**

* * *

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_Eight_

Remus sat dazedly on the front steps of a home in Cornwall, his mind spinning as he worked to block out the voices of Aurors who were investigating the scene inside. The moment he'd heard Kingsley's message, he'd known in the back of his mind what he and Sirius would find upon their arrival. He'd been able to convince himself during Apparition that the location was coincidence. But the moment he and Sirius had met up with Kingsley, and saw the sympathetic look Kingsley shot him as he filled Sirius in on the situation, his feeling of dread had returned tenfold.

Sometime in the last twenty-four hours, at least one Death Eater arrived on the scene. Whether the victim was killed instantly or if she had been tortured had yet to be discovered; Remus desperately hoped it had been quick. A suitcase was sitting at the foot of the stairs, there was no sign of forced entry or of a struggle. Helen Snowe just seemed to have fallen to the ground after she'd answered the door when someone had come calling; Remus would have believed she was sleeping if not for her wide, dull brown eyes staring at the ceiling or the expression of confusion and fear on her face, and the unnatural, contorted position of her body.

He wasn't even certain about what he was feeling right now. Sadness, certainly, along with anger, regret, loss. It hadn't been too long ago that Remus hadn't even believed he could have romantic feelings for a woman anymore; not that he wasn't interested, just that most women who looked at him standing between James Potter and Sirius Black couldn't possibly have the desire to have more than platonic feelings for him. Helen had been different on all accounts. She'd been genuinely interested in him from the beginning, had barely spared Sirius Black a glance let alone succumbed to his charms. Her reaction to finding out about Remus' condition had been unusual in the most pleasant way; in the past, any woman Remus informed about his being a werewolf either ran screaming, gone off in search of the silver bullets, or turned into something much more frightening than a werewolf. Remus briefly recalled a situation about nine years ago in which the woman he'd been seeing had decided his condition was the greatest thing that ever happened to her. When the subject came up, James and Sirius could still be counted on to laugh for hours at their friend's expense...

"All right, Moony?"

Remus immediately recognized the voice and could even see the wince on Sirius' face without looking around. "Fine," he muttered mechanically as Sirius sat beside him on the stairs. "Find anything we couldn't have guessed about?"

"Not really," Sirius said regretfully, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. "Is there anything you can tell us?"

Sighing and rubbing his hands across his face, Remus thought. "She's been out of town," he said quietly, "which you probably could have guessed by the suitcase."

"Where?"

"France," Remus replied. "Visiting a cousin. I didn't even know she was home; she wasn't supposed to be back for a couple more days..."

"Any reason anyone would want to hurt her?" Sirius asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.

Remus looked at him sharply. "No one," he said firmly. "She was aware of the Order, but not a member. Her job wasn't something Voldemort or the Death Eaters would have thought worthy for their cause. Everyone who met her loved her." His voice cracked and he looked away from Sirius in the hopes that the burning in his eyes would pass. He felt Sirius move closer to him and put an arm around his shoulders in comfort. After a few minutes, Remus took a deep breath and nodded to his friend that he was okay. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Sirius said gruffly, patting his back before retracting his arm. "I know she meant a lot to you."

"Yeah," Remus murmured. He started to speak again, but was cut off by the appearance of James and Lily Potter at the end of the driveway. Lily wasted no time in making her way up the sidewalk and pulling Remus off the steps into a hug. Remus gratefully returned the hug, as it had the added value of blocking out Sirius bringing James up to speed.

Lily pulled away first, her eyes rather bloodshot from being awake the entire night before and crying now. "Helen... is she..." The redhead trailed off, unable to finish the question.

Remus nodded. "Yes," he said hoarsely. He looked around the yard, searching for a safer subject. "Where's Piper?"

"Alice is sitting with her," James explained. "She thought we'd be of more use right now." Remus nodded again. "Look, why don't you head back to the house with Lily? It's no good having you here, mate."

Remus shook his head. "Someone has to inform her family," he croaked.

"I'm sure Dumbledore will—" Sirius started to say.

"No," Remus replied firmly. "I'll do it."

Lily offered to go with him, but Remus shook her off, telling her to go be with Piper and started down the street before any of his friends could think to call him back. As he reached the Apparition point, he tried to shake off the lost feeling that was overcoming him and hoped he could make it to the Grangers' home in Surrey without splinching himself.

* * *

Before June, Harry hadn't had much experience dealing with death. Before June, the only people whose deaths had directly affected him were those of his mother and father. Before June, he hadn't had any idea how to go about comforting a person who had lost somebody close to him, having never received that comfort himself. But even after seeing Cedric Diggory murdered right before his eyes and experiencing people around him attempting to deliver all sorts of comfort, Harry was still uncertain how to go about making a person feel better.

Hermione had received an owl just before dinner had ended—as the large barn owl wearing a dark purple sash and carrying a black letter in its beak swooped into the Great Hall, an uneasy hush fell on the students and staff. Harry looked around uncertainly, having never seen this phenomenon where he'd come from, until Caleb shakily leaned over and explained in a whisper that the owl was from the Ministry of Magic and was here to inform some unsuspecting student of the worst news they could receive while away at school: the death of a close family member. All eyes were locked on the bird as it swooped lower and located the Gryffindor table, then as it found Hermione Granger. Though he watched helplessly as Hermione reluctantly accepted both the letter and the owl's deep hoot of sympathy, Harry was able to hear nearly every sigh of relief from the other students, even those from Neville and Ron who both quickly pushed aside their relief to help comfort Hermione.

Dumbledore and the other professors cleared out the Great Hall, allowing Hermione and her friends to remain for the moment—the witch was now crying into Ginny's shoulder, the letter she'd received lying open and abandoned on the table. Neville was the first one with enough nerve to reach over for the letter, making sure all the while that Hermione was looking the other way. He read it through once, shook his head sadly, and passed it to Ron.

"Her aunt," Neville said quietly to Harry's questioning glance.

Harry felt his heart sink. From what little interaction he'd seen between Hermione and her aunt, they were very close. And after his initial meeting with Helen Snowe, during which she'd helped solidify for Harry what his other self was like, he'd liked her immediately.

_And I wasn't the only one..._ he thought sadly, thinking of Remus and his mother.

_Wouldn't be the first time either of them went through this,_ said that very faint voice in the back of his mind. _Don't suppose that makes it much easier to deal with though..._

_No,_ Harry thought back, glancing again at Hermione. _Did you ever know anybody who..._

_Died? _asked the voice. _Yes. Neville's dad a few years back—his parents and mine, er, ours, I suppose, were always pretty close. That's the one I really remember. Then there was Peter, of course, even though he isn't actually dead._

"You all right?" Harry turned to find Caleb giving him a very strange look.

"Yeah," Harry replied, sparing the second year a quick, forced smile before turning back to see McGonagall and Dumbledore speaking quietly with Hermione. A few moments later, she was being led out of the Great Hall. "Just thinking..."

Caleb seemed suspicious, but nodded and stood from the table, leaving the hall with Ron, Ginny, and Neville. Harry trailed behind them more slowly, hoping to continue his private conversation.

_Still there?_ he thought tentatively.

_Yeah,_ the voice responded, sounding like a mere whispered echo.

_Where've you been?_

_Around,_ was the very slightly amused reply. Harry could feel the voice retreating further and further back into his mind. _Nice work with Lavender, by the way. I could've helped if you'd asked._

Feeling more confused than ever, Harry fought to keep the voice close, eager to find out what had happened since the incident on the platform. But before he could think of a suitable response, he felt something that resembled a door closing in his mind and knew the voice had gone again.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked himself under his breath. He wondered if he should go to Dumbledore, if he should tell the Headmaster that he was once again hearing the voice of the Harry Potter in this world. After a brief debate, he decided against it; Dumbledore had enough to worry about with Hermione at the moment and Harry wasn't eager to subject himself to more questions he couldn't answer, more tests and odd stares by the medical community. Anyway, at this point, he wasn't even certain he _was_ hearing the other Harry; maybe his mind was just trying to find a way to comfort him, and this was the solution it had come up with.

Pushing back the thoughts that reminded him whatever world he was in, he'd never be normal, Harry entered the Gryffindor common room amidst several of his housemates looking at each other uncertainly; it seemed rather obvious that while they wanted to go about their normal business for the night, they didn't want to seem cold and callous in regards to Hermione's situation. Automatically, Harry turned towards the armchairs near the fireplace, where he used to sit with Ron and Hermione in the evenings; he turned away almost immediately upon finding Dean, Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati occupying that section of the room, each of them glaring at him. He'd very nearly forgotten what had happened with Lavender only that morning in light of what had just happened in the Great Hall.

He located Caleb sitting at a table with Ginny and Neville and took the empty chair, trying to ignore the way Ginny tried to surreptitiously scoot her own chair further away from him. "Where's Hermione?" he asked Neville.

"Dumbledore's office," the other boy replied. "Ron's with her; she's probably going straight home."

Harry nodded his understanding, his mind drifting to his own world, wondering if this was the kind of thing he would witness in the coming months if he'd been there. He thought about sitting at the Gryffindor table with _his_ Ron and Hermione, the two people who knew him best in the world, and seeing one of those Ministry owls entering the Great Hall over breakfast with news that Mr. or Mrs. Weasley had been killed. He wondered if he'd receive one of those owls to inform him of Sirius' death.

His heart dropped to somewhere around his feet as he recalled that it had been only yesterday that he'd experienced the vision of his godfather being taunted by Lord Voldemort. He'd seen Voldemort's wand pointed at Sirius, had seen the Dark Lord's lipless mouth form the incantation of the Killing Curse, had seen the room fill with green light; but what he hadn't seen was whether that light had actually connected with Sirius' body. Harry now knew without a shadow of a doubt that the vision he'd experienced hadn't been set in this universe, but the one which he called home. He couldn't think of any reason why Voldemort would go through the motions of imprisoning Sirius, torturing him, or making it seem as though Sirius was dying, unless he wanted to draw Harry out into the open. Was Sirius still alive? Was Voldemort just waiting for Harry to show up wherever his godfather was being held to rescue him?

_If that's the case, he's going to be waiting a while,_ Harry thought bitterly.

It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Voldemort hadn't yet figured out that Harry was no longer in that universe. And once he did find out... Harry shivered a little. Voldemort would probably go to great lengths to discover what had happened to him; eventually he might even be able to track Harry's disappearance to Number Four, Privet Drive. While it was true Harry had no real love for his aunt, uncle, or cousin, he'd never wanted to see them hurt, especially not on his account. He could only imagine Voldemort blasting down the Dursleys' front door, just like he'd done the night he'd killed Harry's parents, and torturing his relatives for information. And when he figured out the Dursleys knew nothing of their ward's whereabouts, or just when he got annoyed with them, he would kill them.

Feeling suddenly restless, Harry shot up from his chair, drawing the attention of most of the Gryffindors in the room. He gave them a vaguely apologetic grimace and headed up to his dormitory, suddenly desperate for some time alone.

* * *

Having exhausted himself with the investigation of Helen Snowe's murder, James returned home just before ten o'clock to find his wife and daughter asleep on the sofa. He stepped out of the fireplace, mechanically wiping soot from his shoulders as he watched them. There were dried tear tracks on Lily's face from having undoubtedly spent most of the evening crying for the loss of her friend. Piper seemed fully content in her mother's arms, making him loath to wake either of them. As quietly as he could, James crossed the sitting room and sat down on the coffee table directly in front of the sofa and gently ran his fingers down his daughter's face. She'd been sleeping most of the day, waking occasionally to ask for a drink of water or something to eat before falling asleep again, but she didn't seem to have any memory of being kidnapped.

This, James knew, was a good thing. Too often he came across people who had been taken hostage and who, even months or years later, still experienced nightmares about the experience. Some of them were completely different from what they'd been before being taken—unwilling to trust even those closest to them; falling victim to flashbacks; unable to recognize that they were safe. Fortunately, most children who were abducted and rescued in a timely fashion were able to forget what happened to them.

Case and point: Harry Potter, aged five.

James still wasn't certain how much time had passed between the moments his oldest son had been abducted and when he and his wife realized something was wrong. He'd woken up in the middle of the night suddenly parched and in need of a glass of water. Objective completed, he'd reflexively went to check on his children. Caleb had been sprawled on his tiny bed, letting loose some of the loudest snores he'd ever heard from a child Caleb's size. He remembered chuckling and entering the room to cover his son up with the blanket that had somehow gotten tangled in his tiny legs, then cursing as he stepped on one of Caleb's toy cars. He'd pushed away some of the dark red hair Caleb had inherited from his mother to kiss the boy's forehead, and left the room.

When he'd reached Harry's bedroom, his heart rate had increased. At the time, he'd been bewildered at the reaction, but the moment he'd pushed open Harry's bedroom door, he felt his heart stop completely. Harry hadn't been in his bed. Harry's blankets were bunched up on the floor at the foot of the bed. And judging by the coolness of the mattress where his son was supposed to be asleep, Harry hadn't been in his bed for quite some time.

Those had been among the longest days James could ever remember experiencing. He and his friends had worked relentlessly searching for Harry, checking every Death Eater meeting location they'd ever heard about. In the end, Remus and Peter had been wandering Muggle London, heading towards a tiny café for a quick bite to eat before continuing on their search. Peter had been the first to notice something off about the alleyway. He'd explained that it felt as though he and Remus were being watched, but more than that; like the alley was pulling him towards it. They'd investigated the alley and heard the muffled cries of a child behind a large dumpster. Remus had snatched Harry up immediately while Peter contacted James and the Order. Harry had been taken to St. Mungo's for observation, but the Healers couldn't find anything wrong with him, so he was sent home with his parents. To this day, James didn't know if his son had any actual recollections of the incident or if the memories he did have were merely due to hearing the story told to him over the years.

James' heart clenched. _His_ son may have had vague memories, but _his_ son was no longer in a position to tell him. He'd made great strides in recent weeks to accept what had happened on Platform 9 ¾, and he was starting to get used to the idea that his son was still his son, regardless of the small differences in personality. But like any father forced to endure the loss of a child, there were moments when his guilt outweighed everything. Yes, his son, technically speaking, was still alive. Yes, he and his wife could have attended their son's funeral had the circumstances been tweaked slightly. And yes, he understood that the Harry who had survived the Killing Curse on the platform not only hadn't asked for this to happen, but was experiencing what it was like to have a real family for the first time in his life. That, however, hadn't stopped James from wishing things had been different.

_Count your blessings, mate_, James thought wryly as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind Lily's ear.

Sighing, James stood, reaching over to the back of the sofa for a blanket to cover his wife and daughter while they slept, then heading to the kitchen for a drink. Just as he opened the fridge, there was a soft knock on the backdoor that made him nearly drop the butterbeer bottle in his hand. He turned towards the door, wand in hand.

"Who's there?"he asked firmly, glancing through a gap in the curtains.

"Kingsley," said the tired voice outside.

After visually confirming his fellow Auror's identity and asking a routine identifying question, James pulled open the door to allow Kingsley entry. He glanced outside briefly, checking that everything was calm, closed the door, and turned to the other wizard.

"Sorry about coming by so late," Kingsley apologized quietly. "Just thought you'd want an update."

"Don't worry about it," James said, returning to the fridge and withdrawing two butterbeer bottles before gesturing for Kingsley to follow him to his study. "What's up?"

Kingsley sat and gave a nod of thanks for the drink. "Lupin get back all right?" he asked.

"Lily sent a message when he got back from Surrey to let me know he was staying with us tonight. I assume he's asleep upstairs," James replied, glancing at the ceiling briefly.

"So he was pretty close to the victim, then?" Kingsley checked. "I knew they were friends."

"A little more than friends, I think," James said with a sad smile. "But Remus has never been the type to talk about that sort of thing, not even to us."

Kingsley nodded and took a sip of his drink. "Well, I'll leave it to you whether you tell him this or not—it's not exactly the most comforting news I've heard..."

James took a deep breath and nodded. "What is it?" he asked resignedly.

"Even though the Dark Mark only appeared this evening," Kingsley began slowly, "we think the woman was killed last night between ten and midnight."

James' brow furrowed as Kingsley's words sunk in. "So why did the Mark only appear tonight?" he asked carefully.

"One of two things: Either the spell was set with some sort of time release to control when she was found, or some Death Eater remained at the house, or came back, to cast it."

Leaning back into his chair, James sighed as he thought. "Between ten and midnight?" he checked. Kingsley nodded. "We were attacked around midnight. We were outside about a quarter of an hour at most when Piper was taken. Are you telling me Helen was killed around the time Piper was kidnapped?"

"I'm not telling you anything," Kingsley said bluntly. "But the timing seems odd."

James nodded and reflexively took a sip of his butterbeer. He looked up as Kingsley opened his mouth to say something; the other wizard sucked in a breath, then closed his mouth as he changed his mind. "What?" James asked.

Kingsley sighed. "Don't take this the wrong way," he said in his calming way. "But after you left Cornwall, after we relieved the other Aurors on scene, Sirius and I were taking one last look around the house and he said something odd."

"What?" James wasn't sure he liked the expression on Kingsley's face; it looked as though he suspected something, but was reluctant to share given his uncertainty at how James might react.

"He said something about having déjà vu," Kingsley went on reluctantly. "Like he'd been at the scene very recently and knew the details of everything before the rest of us had a chance to figure it out..." Kingsley continued speaking, but James tuned him out.

_No one's sure when Sirius disappeared,_ said a small voice in the back of the Head Auror's mind. _Could've been plenty of time to go to Cornwall, take care of Helen, then get back her to snatch Piper. A well-cast memory charm, and he could play innocent when the rest of us found him. With the Dark Mark on a delay, he could establish an alibi—he'd been at the Ministry all day, then met Remus for drinks in Hogsmeade. And there'd be no reason for any of us to suspect he had anything to do with the murder. _

James was quite startled at the direction his thoughts were taking. He knew Sirius never would have murdered someone, let alone someone Remus cared for so deeply.

_And before last night, you knew Sirius never would have kidnapped one of your children,_ the voice retorted. _Weren't you the one who defended Sirius to Mad-Eye last night? Then you got that note, and that proved Mad-Eye might've been right. How much coincidence do you think can exist in one scenario before realizing there are no coincidences? This was a carefully planned, carefully executed plan, and it's within the realm of possibility that your best mate was part of it._

_Bloody hell, _James thought to himself, resting his forehead in his hands. _How much worse is this going to get?_

* * *

**AN: **Yes, I know, quick update. But apparently I was on a bit of a roll this weekend. I'll try to keep this a habit. Hope everyone is still there and interested. A few of you have asked about Peter. Anyone want to see what he's up to these days? Please review._  
_


	9. Nine

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_Nine_

Sirius Black crossed the threshold of St. Mungo's long term Janus Thickey Ward and nodded at the medi-witch sat behind the tall counter, taking up the quill to sign his name to the visitors' register.

"Morning, Malina," Sirius said quietly, gesturing to the ward's door with a jerk of his head. "How is he today?"

The black-haired woman smiled. "One of his good days, Sirius," she told him, patting his hand as he laid down the quill. She walked around the counter, a large key ring in hand. "I swear, he knows when one of you is coming to visit; he always seems a bit more... active, than normal."

Sirius smiled at that and followed Malina to a door most people overlooked when visiting this floor. It was a plain white door with a tiny, circular window set in the top. Once opened, they were stood at the beginning of a long corridor with about a dozen doors on both sides; the doors led to small rooms that belonged to those who had lost their souls to dementors over the years, or at least the ones who'd survived. More often than not, the trauma of losing one's soul tended to damage one's body to the point of no recovery. Glancing at the medi-witch with a smile, Sirius set off down the corridor, knowing better than to look into the windows of the other Dementor's Kiss victims. He knew which door was his without having to really look anyway.

He stopped in front of the fifth door on the right and put his hand on the knob, glancing back at Malina. At his tiny nod, she tapped her wand on a spot on a wall chart; Sirius heard a click from the doorknob, signaling it was now unlocked. He pulled open the door and entered, his eyes darting to the photos pasted to nearly every free inch of wall, most of which depicted four young boys in various poses and phases of life. In nearly all of them was the short, rather pudgy blue-eyed, brown-haired form of Peter Pettigrew. The man himself, or what was left of him, was resting on his hospital bed with his knees pulled to his chest as he gazed blankly at four stuffed animals that stood on a shelf across from him.

Sirius swallowed heavily and blinked a few times before plastering a smile on his face. "Hey, Wormtail," he said cheerfully, crossing the small room and pulling out a desk chair to sit down. "I know I'm a little early this month, but I thought you could use some company."

Peter's eyes very slowly traveled from the wall and found Sirius. It had been years since Sirius had felt the pang of disappointment when he saw there was no recognition for him in his friend's eyes; still, every time he hoped there might be something, _anything_ that assured him the old Peter was still there somewhere, just unable to escape from the madness.

Shaking himself, Sirius reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a bag of Bertie Bott's Beans made up especially for Peter—all of his favorite flavors—and opened it. Mechanically, Peter inched across the bed and held a hand out. Sirius chuckled, reached out to steady his friend's shaking hand, and poured a small handful of beans into the waiting palm. Pouring some for himself, Sirius leaned back in his chair, watching as Peter very carefully selected his first bean. He couldn't remember which of his friends—James, Remus, or himself—had been the first to bring the beans on one of these visits, but it had been the first time since Peter's accident that he actually seemed to display something of his old self. The Healers reminded the wizards on every visit that there was no recovery from a Dementor's Kiss and that Peter's fondness for the sweets didn't mean his condition was improving; nevertheless, the Marauders refused to give up on the little nuances that reminded them Peter was still there, even if they couldn't reach him.

"Been a hell of few months, mate," Sirius said rather lightly. "That mess with Harry... And just this week alone. Remus finally found somebody he cared about, who cared about him, who didn't care about his furry little problem. She was pretty and funny, and didn't let old Moony get into his little strops. You'd've liked her." He shook his head and found himself blurting out everything he'd been feeling for the last few months that he hadn't shared with James or Remus, but when he got to the weekend past, he stopped dead, uncertain _how_ to proceed. "I still have no idea what happened to me. I don't know what I was made to do. Dumbledore thinks I was under a combination of Imperius, Confundus, and a very strong memory charm. For all I know, I was the person who..." He shut his eyes tightly, unable to finish his sentence, even to a man who couldn't reply.

He only opened his eyes when he felt the bag of Bertie Bott's being tugged at. Peter wanted more. Sirius chuckled weakly and poured him another handful, and forced himself to change the subject. He spent another hour with Peter talking about Quidditch and Ministry politics and any other inconsequential topic that came to mind. Before leaving, he dropped the remainder of the beans on Peter's bedside table, dropped a kiss on top of Peter's brown head of hair, and promised another visit soon.

As he left the hospital, Sirius reminded himself of what was to come that day—just an hour, according to his watch; he'd spent longer than intended with Peter—and prepared to Apparate.

* * *

For the second time in less than a week, Harry had snuck out of the castle late in the night, desperate for some breathing room and time to think. Hermione would be returning to school tomorrow, according to a short note she'd sent Ron and Neville, and Harry had been debating whether this was the right time to let her in on some of his secrets. He felt guilty, he supposed, about her aunt's death; after all, most of the Aurors had been off searching for Sirius and Piper when Helen was killed, and it was all on Harry's word that they were off on the other side of the country. It had been all for nothing, too, since the vision Harry had seen apparently hadn't happened here at all...

"You shouldn't be out here."

Harry started from where he sat beneath the Invisibility Cloak against a beech tree overlooking the Hogwarts lake. Hesitantly, he looked up finding Sirius Black standing feet from him, his eyes locked on the smooth water, a slight smirk on his face. For a moment, Harry thought perhaps the other wizard wasn't talking to him at all, perhaps another student had snuck out of the school and was sitting nearby. When Sirius turned to look directly at him, Harry cursed under his breath.

"Don't be so surprised," Sirius said, sitting beside Harry on the ground. Harry resignedly removed the cloak. "You think I spent seven years using that thing and didn't learn a thing or two about spotting someone under it? The grass where you're sitting is flattened; grass doesn't do that naturally."

Harry rolled his eyes at himself. "Right," he muttered grudgingly.

Sirius chuckled. "It's all right, I'm not going to report you," he said. "It'd be right hypocritical of me, really, considering what James and I used to get up to..." He chuckled a little before trailing off, glancing sideways at Harry. "Of course you probably don't know much about that..."

Harry shrugged. "No, not much," he admitted quietly. "I mean, Professor Lupin told me a bit—" He broke off when Sirius snorted a laugh.

"Sorry," Sirius replied, grinning. "Just, there are a few things I can't seem to get past when it comes to where you came from, and Moony as a professor is one of them."

Harry suddenly felt quite defensive of his former professor. "He was brilliant," he told Sirius rather stiffly. "If it hadn't been for him, I don't know how I would've made it through third year."

"It's not that," Sirius told him. "I know Remus is brilliant and that he'd make an excellent teacher. I'm sure if the circumstances were tweaked a touch, he'd have been one, but some of the things he's been through..." He shrugged. "I don't think it would've worked out here."

Harry nodded in understanding, though he was bursting with curiosity, and the pair sat silently for long minutes. "So what're you doing here?" Harry asked quietly.

"Just a bit of extra security," Sirius replied. "There's usually one of us around after curfew, keeping an eye on things. Normally, we don't show ourselves to anyone, though."

"So why did you tonight?" Harry asked curiously. Though he had come out here to escape the castle and get a bit of quiet, he didn't mind in the least that he suddenly had company. And really, _this_ Sirius Black was still a rather unknown entity. Harry had had conversations with his godfather over the last several weeks, but usually when they were in the company of others; Sirius seemed a little cautious around Harry, or maybe that was just Harry's paranoia making itself known again. When they had talked, it was light conversation, nothing in-depth, and as an unspoken rule, neither of them spoke about where Harry was from or how he'd gotten here.

"A lot on my mind, I suppose," Sirius sighed, leaning back on his hands and stretching his legs out in front of him. "Probably the same reason _you__'__re_ out here, I reckon."

Harry nodded slowly, picking at a loose thread on his jeans. "How's Remus?" he asked quietly.

"About as well as you'd expect him to be," Sirius said dryly. "Moony's not much for sharing his feelings and all that, even when people expect him to, even when it'd be perfectly understandable to show a bit of emotion." Sirius shrugged. "We've learned over the years how to deal with each other's moods. The only thing we can do for Moony right now is to leave him be. Too much coddling and he'll snap."

"Wasn't the funeral today?" Harry asked.

Sirius nodded. "Yes, and we were all there. Remus said about five words the entire day. Don't worry yourself too much about him, though, he'll be fine with time." He glanced over at Harry, forcing a smile. "And anyway, I think the more pressing matter is why you've wandered out here all on your own. If I was any sort of responsible godfather, I'd be telling you we're living in very dangerous times and even the grounds of Hogwarts with all the protective wards and charms and the even more protective and watchful eyes of Albus Dumbledore, the teaching staff, and the Aurors standing guard isn't as safe as we'd like it to be." He shot Harry a genuine grin. "However, luckily for you, I am no sort of responsible godfather, as your mother reminds me on a tri-weekly basis."

Harry laughed. Sirius winked.

"So what's on your mind?" Sirius asked quietly, once the amusement had passed.

Sighing, Harry remained silent for a few moments, wondering if he could really open up to somebody right now. Remus had become his confidant, giving him advice, setting his mind at ease. But Remus had his own problems to deal with and if he was honest with himself, Harry knew he needed to get some things off his chest. Was Sirius really the best option, though?

_Who__ else __is __there?_he asked himself. _The__ only__ person __in __the __school __who__ knows __what __I__'__ve __gone __through__ is __Caleb, __and __regardless __of __how __smart __he __is, __he__'__d __look __at __me __like __I __was __completely __mental. __Going __to __Dumbledore __just __seems__ like__ overkill.__ Mum__ and __Dad__ are __dealing __with __other__ things..._

_Sirius__ won__'__t __mind_, said another voice. _He __likes__ feeling__ needed, __he __gives __pretty __decent __advice, __and __has __a __knack __of __making__ you__ laugh __when__ you __most__ need __it._

_Looks __to __me __like __he __might __need__ someone __to __talk __to __himself,_ Harry thought back, glancing at the wizard sitting beside him. Though Sirius had showed an interest in what Harry was thinking, he'd rather quickly reverted to staring out at the lake, his brow furrowed deeply as he brooded. Before Harry quite made up his mind about whether he wanted to trouble Sirius with his own thoughts, the older wizard turned back to him and spoke.

"Do you mind if I ask a question?"

Slightly surprised at the sudden change in topic, Harry shook his head. "Not at all."

"Just tell me to bugger off if you don't want to talk about it..." Harry's curiosity increased tenfold as the older wizard drew in a deep breath and shook his head as though he was starting to second guess whatever it was he was about to talk about. "Remus told us, a while ago, about these... visions that you have every so often. Apparently it was how Remus and your dad knew where to find me."

Harry's brow furrowed, uncertain whether he wanted to know where this conversation was headed. Any time anyone asked him about the visions he'd experienced, whether here or in his home world, he'd felt like they were putting him on display somehow, or perhaps like they were judging him. It could all have been paranoia, but whenever he discussed his visions with Remus or Lily or James, he swore they'd edged away from him, just a little. He didn't want that to happen with Sirius.

"These visions," Sirius began hesitantly, "do they seem... real? Like you're really awake, really experiencing these things, but you know there's no way you possibly could be."

Harry nodded slowly. That about summarized how his visions felt. "Sort of," he answered quietly. "A lot of the time I'm just watching whatever's going on, never participating. It _seems_ like a dream, but in a dream you can do things, can't you? If you want to change something, more often than not, you can. But the visions... I usually feel powerless and by the time I get to whatever the point of the vision is, I wind up screaming myself awake and terrifying my dorm mates." Harry glanced at his godfather out of the corner of his eye, half-expecting the wizard to make a joke of some sort, but Sirius was staring thoughtfully out at the lake. "Er, why do you ask?"

"No reason," Sirius told him after several silent, brooding moments. He'd even managed to force a smile onto his face as he said it, glancing at his watch. "I should be getting on with my patrol; if McGonagall or James find out not only did I take a break, but that I let you stay out here as long as you have, they'll hex me. Come on, I'll walk you to the castle."

Though Harry wanted to protest that he was perfectly able to walk himself back to the castle and Sirius could get back to his patrol, he remained silent as he picked up his invisibility cloak and followed Sirius towards the school. He kept sneaking glances at his godfather, wondering what was on the man's mind. With his hands stuffed deeply into his pockets, his eyes fixed on his shoes, his shoulders hunched, this Sirius Black very strongly resembled the Sirius Black Harry had met that night in the Shrieking Shack. Harry wanted to keep questioning Sirius about why he'd asked what he had about Harry's visions; he didn't think Sirius was in the sharing mood anymore, though.

As they reached the castle doors, Sirius seemed to revert back to his normal self. "Be careful getting back to the tower; Filch is on a bit of a rampage after someone dropped a bag of dungbombs from the seventh floor a few weeks back. The whole school stank for days and he still hasn't caught the culprit." The pair shared a grin and Harry got the feeling the culprit Filch was looking for wasn't a student, but an Auror.

"Night," Harry said, heading up the front steps of the school.

Sirius raised his hand in farewell and started to turn away as Harry opened the door. Before the boy could enter, Sirius turned back. "Harry," he said suddenly. "One more thing..." Harry turned towards his godfather, nodding for him to go on. Sirius walked up the stairs before continuing, studying Harry's face closely. "Have you ever been to Grimmauld Place?"

Harry's brow furrowed in thought. "No," he said slowly. "Don't think so."

"Ever heard of it?"

Harry shook his head. "No. Should I have?"

Sirius studied his face for a few more moments before shaking his own head. "No," he said quietly. "No, of course not. Forget I said anything. Good night, Harry."

"Night," Harry responded, bemused, as Sirius turned on his heel and walked briskly towards the school gates.

_What__'__s__ Grimmauld__ Place?_ Harry asked himself, starting to head back to Gryffindor Tower.

_Not__ sure,_replied the voice in the back of his mind after a few minutes, sounding just as confused as Harry felt. _Sounds__ familiar,__though._

By the time he reached the common room, Harry was no closer to figuring out his godfather than he had been out by the lake. He quietly crept into the fifth year boys' dorm, wincing every time his foot touched a slightly loose floor board. Silently, he changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed, closing his eyes. He remained unaware of the pair of blue eyes watching him from the bed across the room.

* * *

James stood in the doorframe of his office in Auror Headquarters, watching his fellow Aurors work on their various cases. It had been nearly a week since Helen's death and Piper's kidnapping, and they weren't any closer to working out what really happened in either incident. James was becoming increasingly bothered by Sirius' behavior over the last few days: Sirius, who admittedly tended to withdraw into himself whenever something bothered him, had been more aloof than usual. He declined whenever one of his friends asked if he wanted to have drinks after work or when Lily invited him to the house for dinner. James couldn't recall the last time his best friend had turned down one of Lily's meals, if he ever had. Whenever James tried to talk to Sirius about what had happened the night he went missing. A couple times it seemed as though Sirius was finally going to open up and tell James what he'd remembered; at the last second, however, Sirius only shook his head and spouted off the same fuzz he'd been giving them since that night. After having drinks with Remus in Hogsmeade, he didn't remember anything more until his friends had found him in that abandoned apartment building. And at first, James had been willing to give his best friend the benefit of the doubt—nobody knew Sirius Black like James knew him after all, and the chances of Sirius murdering anyone, let alone an innocent woman, were slim.

_But__ people __change,_ whispered a cynical voice in James' mind. _You__'__ve __seen __it __before. __Stress __builds __up, __people __get __afraid __and__ start __doing __things __they__ wouldn__'__t __do __normally. __And__ everyone__ knows __Sirius __hasn__'__t __really __been __the __same __since __Peter __was__ Kissed..._

James tried to shake the thoughts, but doubt had been seeping through the cracks for too long.

He suddenly jerked his head to the side as a Ministry interdepartmental memo shot past him into his office, grazing his ear. Cursing under his breath, James reached up to his ear, feeling the paper cut it had left as he entered his office. It wasn't the first time the memos had made him bleed, and certainly wouldn't be the last.

_I__'__d __take __the __owls__ and __their __mess __again __in __a __bloody __heartbeat,_ he thought darkly, closing the door and sitting behind his desk where the memo was buzzing violently until he tapped it with his wand. The parchment unfolded itself and lay flat and quiet on the desk so James could read.

Every sentence was read with an increasingly heavy heart. _'__Incontrovertible __evidence__...__Eyewitnesses__...__Magical __traces__ of __illegal__ and__ Unforgivable__curses...__'_

James felt bile rise into his throat as he reached the end of the memo. He knew what he had to do next, knew that if he didn't do it, someone else would. It was too late for talking, too late for explanations and excuses. Glancing briefly at a photo on his desk, one of himself and his friends taken weeks before Peter's accident, James took a deep breath, folding and pocketing the memo he'd been sent before exiting his office. His eyes found Sirius immediately, talking to Tonks about something or another. There were several ways he could handle this, but only one that might—if it turned out the Ministry was wrong—save James' friendship with Sirius.

"Kingsley," he said quietly, approaching the other Auror's desk.

Kingsley looked up from whatever he was writing, his brow furrowing when he spotted the expression on James' face. "What?" he asked just as quietly.

James gestured for Kingsley to stand and grab his wand. "Need you to follow my lead and keep it quiet."

Obviously still baffled by James' behavior, Kingsley nodded and followed James to Sirius' cubicle, luckily finding Tonks had returned to her own desk. "Sirius," James said, his wand at his side. Sirius looked up, forcing a grin onto his face until he spotted James wasn't alone.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked evenly, quickly eyeing both wizards' wands before meeting James' eyes again.

James swallowed heavily. "I need you to come with us, please," he said, trying to keep his tone business-like. "And it would be in your best interest _not_ to make a scene."

Realization passed across Sirius' face shortly before the look James had been afraid of seeing since he read that memo—the look that suggested James had just committed the ultimate betrayal. Both expressions were gone in an instant, replaced by Sirius' tightened jaw as he nodded. As requested, he stood up, letting James take and pocket his wand, then followed his two fellow Aurors out of headquarters as though they were just going to the cafeteria for coffee. The walk was silent until they reached the Ministry holding cells two corridors down. James walked to the end of the long room and opened one of the cell doors, looking up at Sirius.

"Going to tell me what this is about first?" Sirius asked quietly.

"You're being placed under arrest for the murder of Helen Snowe and the kidnapping of my daughter," James said evenly.

Sirius nodded as though he was agreeing to something simple, then walked into the cell and sat down on the cot against the far wall, watching expressionlessly as James shut the cell door behind him. "You're wrong about this," Sirius told him matter-of-factly.

James nodded back. "I hope so," he replied before turning away and gesturing for Kingsley to follow him out of the holding cells.

* * *

"You did _what?_" Lily asked incredulously.

James sighed heavily, his head in his hands, elbows resting on the kitchen table. "I already told you twice," he said blandly. "Why do I need to go through it a third time?"

"Because we're not exactly clear on the specifics," Remus responded from across the table. "You haven't told us _why_ you put Sirius in the holding cells."

Hoping to drag out the time before he had to come clean about the charges against Sirius, James leaned back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. He'd come home from the Ministry hoping for a quiet night, a bottle of Ogden's, and maybe a little comforting from Lily. Instead, he'd arrived to find Lily and Remus in the kitchen talking quietly over tea, and his plans had immediately gone away. It was the first time he'd seen Remus looking even remotely like himself since Helen's funeral, and when they'd asked where Sirius was, he'd blurted out what had happened that day.

"Look, you have to understand that if I hadn't taken Sirius down, someone else would have," James told them, staring at the table. "Someone who would have made the whole thing into a public spectacle."

"Made _what_ into a public spectacle, James?" Lily asked exasperatedly, rubbing her temples.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out as slowly as possible, James looked at his wife, then Remus, and held his friend's eyes as he spoke. "Evidence was discovered," James began slowly, "that puts Sirius at Helen's house the night she was killed, as well as here an when Piper was kidnapped."

The blood drained out of Remus' and Lily's faces rapidly. "No," Lily whispered. "James, he wouldn't..."

James shrugged helplessly. "I didn't think so either," he replied. "But Sirius hasn't been himself for months. Think about it, Lil. There's no way in hell he would have let Lucius Malfoy stun him, certainly not when he's running security charms on the Hogwarts Express. We didn't see him until that battle was nearly over, and by then, it was too bloody late, wasn't it? Now he disappears just in time for Helen to be killed, then for Piper to go missing, and he swears he has no memory of anything that happened that night."

"That doesn't mean he's guilty, James!" Lily argued. "There could be other explanations. The Imperius Curse, for example. Or a memory charm."

James shook his head. "Lily, he was checked out by Healers after we found him. There was no trace of any of that." He sighed deeply. "Believe me, I don't want to believe my best friend is capable of something like this, but unless we find another explanation, there's nothing I can do."

Lily looked away from him to Remus who was currently staring at the kitchen table, jaw set. "Remus?" she said quietly, reaching over to touch his arm. His eyes snapped up to meet hers. "You okay?"

"Brilliant," Remus said hoarsely, his eyes darting away. "There's every chance in the world my best friend killed my..." He trailed off, tightening his jaw again.

James closed his eyes tightly. He hadn't thought about Remus' reaction to all this, hadn't really considered what this news might do to him so soon after Helen's death. "Moony..." he said quietly.

Remus shook his head. "I'm fine, James," he said, straightening up again and even managing to force the fakest smile James had ever seen onto his face. "Lily, do you need help with dinner?"

Without waiting for a reply, Remus stood from the table and headed over to the counter. Lily sighed, sent James a glare for good measure, and stood to help Remus.

* * *

Sirius lay on the cot inside his cell, head resting on his crossed arms, staring at the ceiling. He'd known it was only a matter of time before something like this happened, ever since he'd seen the look in James' eyes the night Piper had disappeared. He'd tried repeatedly to convince himself James wouldn't really think like that, wouldn't suspect him, not even for an instant, that he could ever have any part in harming his family. Hell, he'd tried repeatedly to convince himself that he'd never harm his best friend's family, but considering how very little he remembered from that night, his best efforts were wasted. He couldn't even honestly claim he hadn't killed Helen Snowe.

At the very thought of the woman, Sirius winced, knowing that by now Remus would have been told everything that was going on. Would he think the same thing as James or would he jump to Sirius' defense? Sirius suspected the former. And of course all the evidence supposedly pointed to Sirius as the culprit, so why would any of them believe anything else?

Just as Sirius was considering hailing the Auror guarding the holding cells for something to eat and maybe a heating charm for that end of the room, the door opened. There was a very brief, whispered conversation, jangling of what sounded to be coins, and the door opened and closed again, leaving the room in silence. It was a few moments of Sirius straining his ears and trying to see who was out there. Ministry regulations dictated that whenever the holding cells were occupied, at least one Auror was required to remain, no matter what.

Very slowly, footsteps could be heard making their way towards the end of the room. Instinctively, since James took his wand, Sirius backed up against the wall of his cell, running through a list of things he could do to defend himself, should it come to that. That list was long forgotten as a tall woman with long brown hair and blue eyes stepped into Sirius' line of sight. Within seconds, he recalled from whom he'd received a letter the night of Piper's disappearance. He recalled what had happened when he'd responded to that letter to meet with its writer, and he felt himself stiffen, his jaw clench as her eyes met his.

"If I had my wand..." he growled.

Elicia Bode raised an eyebrow, reached into her robes for her own wand, and offered it to Sirius. "If you had your wand, what, Black? You'd curse me? Kill me? If that's really what you want, fine, but you might want to at least let me speak first..."

Sirius eyed the wand for a few moments, knowing she'd let him take it and do what he wished with it. He looked back at her, his hands wrapping around the bars of his cell. "What do you want?" he asked.

"To tell you I'm sorry," she said simply, pocketing her wand again. "To tell you I didn't have a choice in this." She sighed, glancing over at the door briefly. "I don't have much time. In a few minutes, you're going to be released, placed on a house arrest charm. The charges against you will hold and there isn't anything I or anyone else can do to change that. There's a lot to explain and I can't do it right now. I'll come talk to you when I get a chance."

Both of them turned their heads towards the door as they heard footsteps approaching. Sirius opened his mouth to say something to her, anything, but she shook her head, silencing him. "I have to go before they get back. Just, please, I know I've given you no reason to, but you have to trust me on this. I'll see you soon."

Sirius stared after her as she disappeared into what he suspected to be the bathroom right before the holding cell door opened and two Aurors walked down to his cell.

"Black," the younger one said, tapping his wand on the cell door, opening it. "Bail's been paid, you can go home. You're being placed under a surveillance charm—should you leave your home for any reason, you can expect to spend the rest of your days in Azkaban. Someone will be by in the morning to make sure you haven't tampered with anything. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, exiting the cell and following the two Aurors out of the room. "Can I have my wand back now?"

As he passed it, Sirius' eyes lingered on the bathroom door, wondering if Elicia was still there or if she'd managed to Disapparate. But he put all thoughts of her, and everything else, out of his mind as the overwhelming need to go home and drink until he passed out overtook him.

* * *

**AN:** Don't suppose you guys'd accept new job and getting married as an acceptable excuse for not updating for seven months, would you? Yeah, didn't think so... Please review.


	10. Ten

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_Ten_

_Harry walked through the dark dusty hallway cautiously, his eyes darting to either side of him as he went. More than once he swore the walls were actually moving slightly, as though they were breathing. It was cold here; he wrapped his arms around himself in an effort to keep warm. As he reached a staircase, he glanced left and up slightly and felt his eyes widen. Stuck to the wall was a row of shrunken house-elf heads, something he was certain Hermione would be utterly insulted by. Snickering to himself, Harry started down the stairs; every step he took caused dust to rise from the ancient carpet; the railing felt smooth and cool beneath his hand, and it occurred to him suddenly that he shouldn't be feeling things like this, not in a dream..._

_He didn't let this bother him for too long. The moment he reached the foot of the stairs, he turned right, walking mechanically down the long narrow hallway. Every bit of wall seemed to be filled with portraits of all sizes, each of them snoring at variable volumes; he tried to get a look at some of the portraits' subjects, but his feet seemed to be on a mission: before he knew it, he was walking down a narrow, steep staircase leading to a door that had been left slightly ajar. Harry reached out his hand to push the door open fully, surprised it hadn't made enough noise to disrupt whatever was going on behind it. _

_Then again, given the amount of pacing, arguing, and fists banging on the table, he wasn't surprised nobody had noticed his arrival. _

_Immediately, he realized he'd been here before. The first and last time had been an aerial view of the room, and he'd watched as Remus Lupin informed Sirius Black that his godson had gone missing from his relatives' home in Surrey. Then there had only been one other person in the room; now there at least a dozen, most of whom Harry knew quite well, some of whom he'd only just met in recent weeks. It was the sight of the person seated closest to the fire at the head of the table that caused Harry to rush into the room. Remus Lupin was here again, pacing the length of the table with his hands crossed behind his head, looking angry and anxious in equal measures. But Sirius was here as well, finally providing Harry with proof that his godfather was alive, even though he looked horrible. One side of his face was red and puffy and covered by some light blue paste Harry thought might be bruise balm; his left arm was in a sling and he cradled it close to his chest while his other hand was pressing against his ribs—Harry suspected one or two of them to be broken; his leg was propped up on an adjacent chair, forced straight by either a splint or a partial body-bind, or both. _

_But he was alive and that was what mattered to Harry right now._

_Obviously, Remus Lupin felt differently. "How could you have been so stupid?" he demanded loudly, pausing in his pacing directly in front of the other wizard in order to address him. Sirius rolled the eye that wasn't swollen shut in response. "What is it you don't seem to understand about staying in the house and not attracting attention to yourself?"_

"_Did you really expect me to stay home and play good boy while my godson is god-knows-where?" Sirius responded croakily. "It's been too long, Remus, you all know it. If we don't find him soon..." He trailed off, averting his gaze from Remus to the table and swallowed heavily._

_Tonks, her spiked pink hair looking droopy, leaned forward. "Sirius, we're all worried about Harry, but—"_

_Sirius lifted his head and glared at her. "_Worried_ about him, Tonks?" he asked almost scathingly. "You've never even met him!"_

"_Enough, Sirius," Remus said firmly. "You should be thanking us on bended knee right now. If we hadn't gotten to you when we had, you'd be dead. Do you even realize that?"_

_Sirius' anger deflated slightly. "Yeah, I do realize that, and I am thankful. But you should have been out looking for Harry, not me."_

"_We have been, Sirius," Kingsley Shacklebolt informed him calmly. "He's nowhere to be found. We interrogated the Death Eater who was holding you in that room; we used Veritaserum." Kingsley suddenly looked reluctant, glancing between Remus and Sirius uncertainly. _

_Remus sighed. "Sirius, we're not going to find Harry," he said quietly. "According to everything we've found out, Harry doesn't exist anymore."_

_The light in Sirius' good eye seemed to dim and die completely in a matter of moments. "You're saying he's dead?"_

"_No," Mad-Eye grunted unexpectedly. "Not dead. The boy's just gone. No trace of him. Dumbledore doesn't think he's in any danger, but—"_

_Sirius laughed loudly and humorlessly. "Not in any danger, eh? Tell me, Mad-Eye, when was the last time someone disappeared without a bloody trace and they were in the land of sunshine and lollipops?" A couple peoples' lips twitched; Remus' eyes rolled. "As for me risking my life or my soul and you lot saving both, I'd do it again a hundred times if I thought it'd get Harry back."_

"_Sirius," Remus said quietly, sitting beside his friend finally. He opened his mouth to go on, but a burst of flame above the kitchen table cut him off. Several people threw themselves back in their chairs; one person Harry had originally believed to be a pile of smelly, slightly smoky rags started so much nearly an entire bottle of amber-colored liquid was thrown over his shoulder. The man muttered apologies and turned to clean the mess while the others tended to a reddish-gold feather that had appeared on the table in place of the fire burst._

"_From Dumbledore," Remus muttered unnecessarily, snatching the feather up in an instant. While he held it, the man's brow furrowed deeply, his complexion paled significantly more than Harry had ever seen, and he looked utterly terrified. The others in the room seemed to pale along with him while they waited for him to announce whatever horrible thing he was experiencing. It was nearly two minutes before the feather itself burst into flame in Remus' hand, reducing it to ash. The moment Remus turned his hand over to dump the ash, it vanished itself. _

"_What is it, Lupin?" Mad-Eye asked when all Remus did was stare at the tabletop. _

_Remus took in a deep breath before looking up, his eyes darting to all the anxious people around the table, including Molly and Arthur Weasley, two witches Harry had never met, the rag man, three Aurors, and a former prisoner of Azkaban. For a moment, Harry thought Remus might have actually spotted him—his eyes rested on him as he began to speak. "The Ministry is gone," he said in little more than a whisper. "Dumbledore _believes_ Voldemort is behind it—"_

"_What do you mean, gone?" Arthur Weasley asked sharply, gripping his wife's hand so tightly all the knuckles on both their hands were white. "You mean, You-Know-Who's taken over?"_

_Remus shook his head very slowly. "No, I mean, it's gone. Vanished. Non-existent anymore." He turned to look at Sirius' furrowed brow. "Just like Harry. And he thinks Hogwarts is next."_

* * *

Harry sucked in a deep breath, his entire body arching off his bed. He sat up quickly, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes until he saw stars, then pushed the sweaty fringe off his forehead as he opened his eyes, trying to convince himself that whatever he'd just experienced hadn't been real. It had just been a nightmare, nothing more, and there was no need for panic.

_Yeah? Things don't just vanish into thin air,_ he thought to himself.

_You did, _his mind shot back almost immediately.

Harry shut his eyes tightly in annoyance and began to form a retort, but movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him. Immediately, instinctively, he reached under his pillow for his wand and pointed it at his left.

"Easy!" said a voice Harry had no trouble recognizing. His eyes followed his wand's direction and found the blurry but undeniable form of Ron Weasley backed up against a bed, his hands raised in a defensive position, warily eyeing the wand.

_There's a great way to make someone want to like you_, his mind told him, snickering quietly.

_Sod off,_ Harry replied.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled to Ron, placing his wand back under his pillow.

"Is that how you always respond to nightmares?" Ron asked, lowering his hands slowly. Harry noticed he stayed against the bed where he'd leaned. "Only you might want to be a little careful; next time you might actually hurt someone."

Harry's lips twitched. "Sorry," he said again. "No, that's not usually how I respond. There's usually a bit more thrashing and yelling, actually." He spoke mechanically, still running through every detail of the dream he'd just had, making sure he had everything right before he went to Dumbledore. Could Dumbledore do anything about this? Had it already happened? What _had_ happened?

Ron nodded, still eyeing him warily. "Right, well, Hermione sent me up. Wanted to make sure you didn't miss breakfast, so..."

Before either of them could go on, the door to the dormitory burst open and Caleb stumbled through, tripping over a pile of clothing one of the fifth year boys had left, probably for the house-elves to launder. "Harry!" the boy gasped as he approached the other two. He slid to a stop just short of Ron, forcing a brief smile onto his face. "Hey, Ron... How's it going?"

Ron glanced between Harry and Caleb rather uncertainly. "Fine, Caleb," he replied. "Er, I'll just leave you two alone, then. See you at breakfast." He left the dormitory quite quickly, closing the door behind him.

"Sorry," Caleb said, sitting on the end of Harry's bed. "Did I interrupt?"

Harry shook his head, reaching over to his bedside table for his glasses. "No," he muttered, getting out of bed and looking for his clothes. "He was just waking me for breakfast." As he pulled his shirt over his head, he wondered if Dumbledore would mind him approaching him at the staff table; he probably wouldn't if Harry told him just enough that he realized it was important. "Caleb, I can't really talk right now, I need to talk to Dumbledore."

"You heard, then!" Caleb said, jumping off the bed.

Harry stopped, wondering how Caleb could possibly know what he'd seen in his dream. Then he realized it _wasn't_ possible and the anxious look on the boy's face had been caused by something else. "Heard what?" he asked cautiously.

"About Sirius," Caleb said, his own brow furrowing. "You don't know..."

"What happened to Sirius?" Harry asked urgently. "Is he alright?"

Caleb sighed and sat back down on the bed. "Not really," he sighed. "You remember my two-way playing cards? The ones that I was trying to charm to make it so I could see and hear things not really meant for my ears." Harry nodded that he remembered. "Well, I accidentally left one in the kitchen at home. Mum and Dad obviously hadn't found it yet. Anyway, I finally got all the charms right—Hermione helped me." Harry's eyes shot up in surprise that Hermione Granger would get involved in something so underhand as spying on one's parents. "I didn't tell her exactly what I was going to use the charm for, so if you wouldn't mind keeping it to yourself, I'd really appreciate it."

"Yeah, sure," Harry said dismissively. "So the charms worked..."

"Yes," Caleb answered. "I was able to activate them and see what was going on back home last night."

"And what was that?"

"Dad was telling Mum and Remus that he'd just arrested Sirius."

Harry stared at his brother. "What?" he asked blankly.

Caleb nodded. "That's not even the worst of it. Sirius is being charged with murdering Hermione's aunt and kidnapping Piper. And it _couldn't _have been him! Why would he do that?"

Harry backed up and sat on the edge of his bed, his dream or vision or whatever on the very brink of being forgotten as his mind whirled around this new information. It sounded vaguely like something he'd heard before, perhaps not in this context, but certainly the same circumstances: Sirius Black wrongfully accused of murder and betrayal, while nobody, least of all his best friends believed in his innocence. Harry had never thought James Potter would be among those to believe the worst of Sirius, let alone responsible for his arrest, but he supposed there was only so much one man could take before his views on reality finally slanted just enough for him to distrust those closest to him. Harry looked up at Caleb, realizing the question asked hadn't been rhetorical, and the younger boy was waiting for an answer. He shook his head. "He wouldn't," he said quietly. "It's a setup, I'm sure of it."

Caleb's brow furrowed. "A setup? By who? Can we fix it?"

"I don't know," Harry responded honestly. He met Caleb's eyes, finding the younger boy looking deeply troubled and just as clueless.

* * *

Remus exited the bookshop, locking it behind him and headed down the road towards the Ministry-designated Apparition spot for Hogsmeade. Business at the shop that day had been slow, which suited him perfectly fine, since his mind had been stuck elsewhere for several days now. He'd received a message from Lily, telling him James hadn't been home much since Sirius' arrest; she wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, whether he was helping Sirius or whether he'd just shut himself up in his office at Auror headquarters, losing himself in guilt for doing what he had to his best friend. Remus himself wasn't sure how to feel about these recent developments. On one hand, he was still mourning the loss of Helen and wanted to see justice delivered to whomever had murdered her. On the other hand, apparently that justice was being delivered to Sirius, who had never shown any tendency towards murdering innocent people-Remus wasn't naive enough to think his friend hadn't used fatal magic in life-threatening situations. There was no other way to survive in a war when the enemy was constantly bombarding them with the same tactics after all...

What didn't make sense was 'why' Sirius would attack Helen. The chances of the Imperius Curse having been placed upon him were high, but even if that were the case, could Remus ever look Sirius in the eyes again without being reminded who it was that had taken Helen from him? It made him slightly ill to even think it, but Remus had a feeling that no matter what the ruling, his friendship with Sirius would be permanently damaged.

As he walked, lost in his thoughts, Remus got the feeling of being watched. Surreptitiously as possible, he glanced into the window of Zonko's Joke Shop, easily blocking out the sight of regurgitating wizard hats to catch the reflection behind him. He didn't see anybody in the path, but the feeling didn't pass. He casually slipped a hand in his pocket, wrapping his hand around his wand, then quickly ducked into an alleyway between the Three Broomsticks and Gladrags. He could see footprints slowing down and instinctively reached out an arm, grasping something solid, and pulled it into the alleyway with him. His wand raised, he removed the invisibility cloak before the person under it had the chance to retrieve their own wand, and nearly stunned Harry where he'd been pushed against the brick wall.

"What are you doing here?" Remus demanded after several moments of shock. he immediately released Harry's jacket and cloak, lowering his wand. "How the hell did you get out here? No one can leave the school grounds after sundown." Just to make sure he wasn't delusional about where he thought Harry had begun following him, Remus quickly glanced around the brick wall back towards his shop. Had it been his friends, he'd known where they would have come from, but Honeyduke's was in the other direction and the shop had been closed for hours already.

Harry had the decency to look sheepish, if not a little startled by Remus' uncharacteristic behavior. "Er, I don't suppose you'd be willing to overlook that for the moment, would you?" he asked anxiously.

Not in the mood for the normal joking and teasing, Remus crossed his arms and fixed Harry with his best stern expression, the only one that worked on James and Sirius when they were being particularly annoying. "No, I wouldn't," he said coolly. "I'm sorry, Harry, but right now isn't the best time for a chat. I'm tired and just want to go home. I'll walk you back to the castle and we'll talk later in the week."

"It can't wait," Harry said imploringly, grabbing the sleeve of Remus' jacket as he made to leave the alley. "It's about Sirius."

Remus stopped, closed his eyes tightly, and sighed deeply. He was definitely not in the mood for this conversation. "Who told you?" he asked dryly. Last he'd heard, Lily had decided Harry and Caleb need not know what happened between James and Sirius until there was actually something to tell.

Harry's eyes darted around and he shifted uncomfortably. "I can't tell you that," he muttered. Remus raised an eyebrow. "Just... Can we talk? Please?"

Tempted though he was to drag Harry back up to the school and pull Caleb aside by his ear to remind him eavesdropping was illegal, as were whatever charms he used to do it—going from experience, it was highly probable charming some sort of Muggle object wasn't entirely off the cards either—Remus found he didn't have the energy to do more than nod and led Harry back towards the bookshop. "Keep under the cloak," Remus advised, reopening the door to the shop and ushering Harry in. "Wouldn't do us any favors letting someone catch a glimpse of you, then inform the Headmaster."

Remus quickly cast privacy spells around the windows, relocking the doors for extra security. "In here," he said once certain it was safe from prying eyes. He held open the door to the shop's backroom and felt the rustle of the Invisibility Cloak as Harry entered past him. "You can take that off now." He sat down and watched as Harry materialized again, neatly folding the cloak in his lap as he sat as well. "What is it you want to say?"

Harry took a deep breath, averting his eyes only for a split-second before meeting Remus' again. "Sirius didn't do anything wrong," he said imploringly. "There has to be another explanation!"

Remus deflated slightly. "Harry," he said quietly. "Much as I would like that to be true, right now the evidence says differently—"

But the boy only rolled his eyes and slid off his stool, turning to pace a little. "Evidence doesn't always mean truth," he said firmly. "Look, I told you about the Sirius where I'm from. Everyone thought he betrayed my parents, handed them over to Voldemort, that he killed those Muggles in London—and Peter. But he didn't—"

"I know," Remus said quickly, knowing what Harry was about to say next. He was about to say it had been Peter Pettigrew who had betrayed them—Remus still had difficulty imagining that... "But Harry, Sirius can't tell us where he was that night or what he was doing. And even if we were to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe he'd been framed, why would the Death Eaters go to such lengths for him? I'm not saying Sirius hasn't landed himself of the Death Eaters' most hated list, but there are a lot of other people around they'd like to get their hands on before him."

Harry sighed and sat back down. "I don't know why they would frame him," he said quietly. "I just know there has to be more to this than everyone thinks. Can't you just talk to him?"

Eyes closing of their own accord and fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, Remus wondered why he was surprised at the question. If he was honest with himself, he'd known this was exactly where Harry would take this conversation since he opened his mouth. He thought about making excuses, telling Harry he just wasn't ready to deal with Sirius so soon after the recent revelations. He knew, though, Harry would see straight through any excuses he came up with. The similarities between this situation and what had happened to Sirius in Harry's world hadn't escaped Remus' notice; he'd forced himself not to think about it largely because if he did, he knew he'd begin questioning everything.

Not that that wouldn't appeal to him—he'd happily believe Sirius was innocent if someone managed to present incontrovertible evidence. But there was still so much to digest; everything had happened so quickly there hadn't been time to sit back and think it through.

Looking at Harry's imploring eyes, Remus knew that the more time that went on and questions weren't posed, the worse it would end for Sirius in the long run. Doubt and mistrust had a way of slowly seeping into the brain, building up resistance against everything else until there was no other option than to believe exactly what one had been told. He could only imagine how his counterpart from Harry's world had felt when he'd been told what Sirius had done to Lily and James, and to Peter. It was a crushing feeling, having your world crumble all around you—all the grief and misery you felt somehow managed to focus itself into anger. Remus didn't want to feel any of that. He didn't want to lose Sirius, not after everything they'd been through. There was only one thing for it...

With a heavy sigh, Remus met Harry's eyes again. "I'll talk to him," he promised hoarsely. Harry relaxed in relief. "You're right, we shouldn't just believe what we're told. I'm not saying I'm fully on Sirius' side just yet, but I am willing to hear his side of things. Problem is, he says he doesn't remember anything, Harry. Unless by some miracle he gets his memory back, we've got no other choice but to believe him guilty."

Harry seemed, for now at least, willing to accept this. "Thanks," he said with a smile.

Remus was surprised to find himself able to return the expression. "Right," he said swiftly after several silent moments. "We should get you back to the school, unless there was something else you wanted to discuss..." He raised an eyebrow at Harry's suddenly hesitant expression. "What?"

Harry swallowed deeply and started to smile again. "Nothing," he said quietly. "You're right, I should get back. Caleb's waiting for me anyway."

Nodding slowly, still highly suspicious, Remus gestured for Harry to get back under the Invisibility Cloak and to follow him out of the shop. During their walk back to the castle, Remus placed a privacy spell around them, determined to find out what Harry hadn't said back at the bookshop. "Why don't you just tell me what else is bothering you?" he asked the boy mildly. "I'm far too tired to wonder and worry about it tonight..."

Harry sucked in a breath, obviously having thought he had escaped questioning. "Sure it's safe?" he finally said from Remus' left.

"Perfectly," Remus told him. "What's on your mind?"

"I had another one of those dreams," Harry finally began slowly. "The ones where I get glimpses into my old world and get a chance to see what's going on there."

Remus' curiosity was instantly piqued. Excepting the one he'd had the night Piper was taken, Harry hadn't discussed any of these new visions, and Remus felt he could use a distraction for the moment. "And what was going on?"

"I'm not really sure. Though my Sirius had definitely been captured; you were chewing him out for leaving wherever it is he's hiding out," Harry said. Remus' brow furrowed a little as he worked through Harry's words, having a little trouble being told he was doing something he knew without a doubt he hadn't been. "He was hurt, but not killed. He was really annoyed you lot had decided to search for him rather than me..."

Remus smiled very slightly; it was exactly like Sirius to be annoyed that someone had wasted any time on him when those he loved were in as much, if not worse, danger. It was rather comforting to hear that world's Sirius and this one at least had that in common. The smile faded the moment Harry went on.

"They know I'm not anywhere to be found now," Harry said in a low tone. "I don't know how, whether they did a load of tracking spells or something, but they know that much."

Remus nodded. He'd known the other world would exhaust every available resource to find the missing boy, and he had a feeling he knew exactly what it would feel like to discover everything they'd done had been for nothing...

"But something else is going on too..."

Horror mounted as Harry explained what he'd been told about the other Ministry of Magic, how it had just disappeared from the world. He started to tell Harry something like that just wasn't possible, but reminded himself that only two months ago he hadn't believed it possible that alternate realities actually existed. There was no real response Remus could think of that might set Harry's mind at ease. With a sideways glance to where he knew the invisible boy to be walking, Remus wondered whether Harry was actually seeking comfort or if he just wanted to hear someone else's thoughts on the matter; he settled on the latter, hoping he hadn't judged the situation inaccurately.

"It sounds to me like the two worlds are merging," Remus said after a few minutes deliberation on how much to disclose. "There have been several reports on an upsurge of magic since you're arrival. People have been monitoring it, of course, in case it gets out of hand and something needs to be done to stop it. Nobody can explain it, obviously; not that anybody would actually believe what we believe about the source."

"But if the worlds are merging, what happens to the people there? Do they get shoved here, into their counterparts like I was?"

"I honestly don't know," Remus said, shaking his head. "If that were to happen, would that apply to everyone in that world, not just the ones you're connected with? And what would that even mean for any of us?"

A conversation he'd had with James, Lily, and Sirius a few weeks back popped back into his head suddenly. They'd been discussing the reason for Harry being shoved so unceremoniously into their lives, uprooting everything else. It had been unanimously that Voldemort had probably been behind it, and if it were so, it certainly hadn't been done to give Harry a holiday from his normal life. If Voldemort and his counterpart from Harry's world were forced to merge, what did that mean for the wizarding world? Regardless of whether the other Voldemort had only regained power a few months ago, he still _had_ power, and that power would merge with this world's Voldemort...

_We thought we were having a tough time gaining the upper hand before,_ Sirius had remarked dryly. _What are the chances we might actually survive with two of them in one body?_

Before it had all been hypothetical, their thoughts posed in a half-joking way. Harry's new vision forced them into reality, and as was always the case, reality was far more horrifying than anything they could have come up with. Rather than display just how horrifying a turn his mind had taken in front of Harry, Remus changed the subject. By the time they reached the Hogwarts gates and Remus had hailed Tonks to take Harry up to the castle, he had little idea what they'd actually discussed. Luckily, Tonks didn't question why Harry was off school grounds, nor why Remus was walking him back; she did, however, shoot Remus a look that clearly said she'd seen on his face what he'd tried to hide from Harry. Remus shook his head minutely, which only served to deepen her furrowed brow.

When he found himself in the sitting room of his flat without any recollection of Apparating, Remus decided a drink or two was in order before working out his next plan. There wasn't much he could do tonight about Voldemort and alternate realities being forced into theirs; there would be an Order member the next night, so he could bring it up to Dumbledore then. He could, however, do something about fulfilling his promise to Harry in regards to Sirius. At the very thought, Remus poured himself another drink and gulped it down in seconds.

It wasn't until he'd drained his bottle of firewhiskey that he felt himself ready to face whatever the discussion with Sirius would bring. He took a few very deep breaths, made sure he wouldn't splinch himself on the journey to London, and Disapparated.

* * *

**AN:** I'm pretty sure I'm all out of excuses in terms of updating this story, so I'll just save it... Anyway, for those of you who haven't given up on me, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm currently working on getting my plot lines for this story a little more organized to make writing a little easier. Hopefully it'll work. Please review.


	11. Eleven

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_Eleven_

Remus stopped outside the front door of Sirius' flat, trying to calm himself so he didn't curse his friend on sight or turn tail and runaway so he didn't have to face this right now. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Remus raised his hand and knocked on the door. It was a minute or so before he heard any sounds of life from within—there was a crash, a muttered curse, and heavy footsteps before the door opened up. Sirius, it seemed, had been asleep; his hair was messed up, he was shirtless, and he was still grumbling, holding his foot from where he'd apparently stubbed it against something.

"What?" he grunted in irritation, finally letting go of his foot and looking up. His jaw dropped open a little, his eyes widened, and his face paled. "Moony..."

"Hey, Sirius," Remus muttered. "Got a minute?"

Sirius nodded, now wide awake. "Yeah, of course, come on in..."

Remus stepped inside the flat and closed the door behind him, having a look around. Sirius wasn't exactly the tidiest person in the world at the best of times, but being forced to remain in his home for extended periods only seemed to have escalated his untidiness. Clothes and magazines and old _Daily Prophets_ were strewn all over the floor; there was a stack of pizza boxes at the end of the sofa he seemed to be using as a table for empty beer bottles; and there was a strange smell coming from the kitchen. "See you've made good use of your time at home," Remus said dryly.

Sirius snorted loudly from the kitchen where Remus assumed he was grabbing drinks for them. "You know me, mate, still waiting for Heidi Housewitch to come look after me," he joked. "Anyway, this place gets too dirty, I'll just move."

Remus only rolled his eyes, pushed a pile of jeans off the cleaner end of the sofa and sat down, waiting for Sirius to hand him a butterbeer and join him. The two wizards sat in a rather awkward silence, sipping their bottles for a few minutes before Sirius finally sat his down and turned towards Remus. "Didn't expect to see you here," he said bluntly. "Actually, you're the _last_ person I expected to come by."

"Me too," Remus admitted. "But I thought you could use some company."

The other wizard nodded slowly. "Well, I appreciate the concern, but something tells me you've got a little more on your mind than my loneliness."

"You're right." Remus set down his own butterbeer and double-checked his wand wasn't easily accessible during this conversation, just in case this discussion turned sour.

"Ask away, then, mate," Sirius said resignedly. "Not like you're the first one."

Sighing deeply, Remus met his friend's eyes. "Did you?" he asked quietly. He knew Sirius wouldn't need him to expand on his question.

Sirius sighed equally deeply, glanced around his living room for a moment, then looked back. "I'm not going to insult your intelligence the way I have my fellow Aurors," he began in a low voice. "But honestly, Remus, I really do not know. I remember going to a... meeting after leaving the pub, I remember _bits_ of that meeting, then nothing until you and James found me."

Remus' brow furrowed. "What meeting?" he asked slowly.

"The night we found out about Helen... When you and I were at the pub again, I had that... er... episode or whatever it was, then one where I couldn't breathe and you were freaking out—"

Remus rolled his hand impatiently. "I remember."

"Right, well, after that, before we got Kingsley's patronus, I told you I remembered getting a letter, but that I didn't remember what was in it." Sirius took a deep breath. "I remember now what was in it. It was a message requesting a meeting with a contact James and I made years ago. A Death Eater who came to us wanting to pass along information to help the Order."

Remus sighed again. "You and James told us _years ago _you'd stopped meeting with her, because you didn't trust her," he reminded his friend.

"No, we told _you_ that so _you'd _tell Lily and she'd get off James' case about it," Sirius amended.

"So you lied to me," Remus said dryly. "What else is new?"

"It was a necessary lie, Remus. People were starting to get wind that we had a contact in the Death Eater circle and it was becoming too dangerous for all of us. So we told you lot she'd changed her mind about being a spy and kept all information we got from her between us and Dumbledore, who shared with the rest of the Order when he deemed it necessary," Sirius told him.

"So what did she tell you?"

Sirius shrugged apologetically. "I'm still a little fuzzy on some of the details, but that might have something to do with the hex one of her mates hit me with halfway through our conversation. And I know what you're going to say," he said hastily as Remus opened his mouth. "But I really don't think it had much to do with her. Yes, she led me there, she wouldn't let me leave, but..." He shrugged again.

"It would have blown her cover if she'd done anything to help you," Remus said resignedly. Sirius nodded. "Do you remember what you talked about?"

Sirius' brow furrowed deeply as he thought. "We did the usual identifying routine we do every time, walked into the meeting place. I checked it for anyone hiding in there—it was just the two of us, which means the others showed up right before I was hexed. She told me there had been an attack that night and there was about to be another. When I pressed her for details, that was when I realized something was wrong."

"What time was this?" Remus asked slowly.

Sirius shook his head. "It was late," he said. "One in the morning, maybe... I really don't remember."

Remus' heartbeat increased. "One in the morning?" he checked. Sirius shrugged uncertainly. "Sirius, if your meeting was at one in the morning, there was no way you could have been present at Helen's. Evidence shows she was killed between ten and midnight." While this information sank into Sirius' liquor-soaked brain, Remus shot up from the sofa and paced the length of the living room, running shaking hands through his hair. Harry had been right; somehow, for some unknown reason, Sirius had been framed. Remus wasn't quite yet ready to tell Sirius he believed him aloud, at least not until his mind stopped reeling long enough to wrap itself around this new information.

He turned back to face Sirius, finding his friend looking back, suddenly sober. "How do we prove it?" he asked quietly.

Shaking his head, Remus sat back down heavily. "I don't know," he admitted hoarsely. "James isn't listening to reason right now; he's barely speaking to anybody. And you know how he gets when he's like this: words won't mean a damn thing to him."

"Maybe Lily?" suggested Sirius.

Remus shrugged half-heartedly. "I don't know whether she can even get through to him right now. Hell, I don't know if she'll believe a word of this if I tell her."

Sirius shook his head. "Lily will at least hear you through," he said. "She always listens to you, Remus, more than any of the rest of us, even James. It's always been like that and you know it."

"Even so," Remus went on. "Even if she does believe me, that doesn't do much in convincing everyone else. And just so we're clear, _I'm_ not even say I'm convinced just yet. We're going on the word of a man who's been claiming since the beginning he has no recollection of what may or may not have happened during a twelve hour time period."

Whatever hope had been spreading throughout Sirius as he and Remus discussed the remote possibility of his innocence had disappeared. He nodded slightly, avoiding the werewolf's eyes. "Remus," he said quietly, "I never would have hurt Helen or Piper. What do I need to do to prove it to you?"

Remus swallowed, averting his own eyes. "I don't know," he replied. "But I should go. James asked me to help him replace and upgrade the wards around the house. I'll talk to them when I have a moment."

"Sure," Sirius said quietly, standing to follow Remus to the door of his flat. "Take care, mate."

"You too," Remus responded, giving him a small smile. "I'll see about replenishing your supplies as well. One can't live on firewhiskey and pizza alone, right?"

Sirius smirked. "We used to do it when we were kids."

The smile on Remus' face felt more genuine. "True, but the years seem to have made that more difficult. At least for me." He stepped out into the hallway. "I'll be in touch."

He turned to leave, knowing Sirius was watching his every move, and wondered how exactly he was going to present this new evidence to James given the wizard's recent temperament. He further wondered if he'd be able to hold his own during the argument that would undoubtedly ensue if Remus didn't fully believe his end of the argument. As he left the building, his mind focusing on this new problem, he had no idea his every move was being watched by somebody who was not Sirius Black.

* * *

Harry was exhausted. It had been three days since he'd cornered Remus Lupin in Hogsmeade, practically begging him to go speak with Sirius, and he'd not had a restful moment since. When he wasn't fretting over the fate of his godfather or of the world from which he'd come, he was focusing on his studies, something he'd never really done before, but he found keeping his mind occupied with Arithmancy or Charms helped him forget his troubles for a little while. At night, while his dorm mates slept, he lay in his four-poster, the curtains drawn around his bed, and stared at the canopy as he wondered what was going on back home.

More often than not, he found himself having silent discussions with the voice in his mind that so resembled the Harry from this world. He still wasn't certain whether he was actually conversing with this world's Harry or if it was just a side effect of having shared the other boy's mind for the few months he had. And the last thing he wanted to do was bring the subject up to the adults in his life, whether it be his parents, Remus, or Dumbledore. The only other possibility he could come up with for hearing and speaking to the other Harry was that he was going mental, and the last thing he wanted to deal with was being locked up in whatever the wizarding equivalent to a Muggle insane asylum might have been.

Mental or not, there was a measure of comfort in the silent discussions. At least then there was one person who understand what was going on in his mind and gave him advice without eyeing him warily. They could run through what was happening in Harry's home world, coming up with explanations that, most likely, were frightfully off the mark. There had, however, been one question answered: how was Harry seeing what was happening in the other place?

_I don't know how to explain it,_ the other Harry told him one night. _After what happened on the platform, when our minds separated and I... well, died, I sort of went off somewhere._

_Where? _asked Harry, curling up on his side in his bed.

_Dunno. It was a whole lot of nothing, really. There wasn't anything to see, no people, no anything. Then one day I woke up again and I was... well, not home, but somewhere similar. I reckon I know how you felt when you landed here. I recognized a lot of the people, but they weren't _my_ people, does that make sense?_

Harry nodded in the dark. _Yes. People looked different, even though you couldn't quite put your finger on how. They acted different. They'd lived different lives than the ones you knew them to have led._

_Exactly. _

_Could you talk to them? _Harry asked suddenly. He knew it was a long shot—there wasn't a body for Harry Potter in the other world, so it couldn't have been possible that things worked there like they did here.

_No,_ the other Harry said apologetically. _I can see what the others are doing, I can listen to them talk, but I can't interact with them. It's kind of like a pensieve, but I know it's happening in real time rather than being a memory. _

_Can you control it?_

_Haven't tried yet. If it works, at least it'll give us a way to monitor what's happening._

Harry sighed. He'd felt better knowing the things he'd been dreaming hadn't been visions from Voldemort, at least for the most part. And he was grateful for the chance to see the people he loved from the other world were alive and mostly well. But he still wished there was a way he could tell them not to worry about him, that he was safe. He still wished there was a way to save them from whatever was happening to their world.

_Any thoughts on how to stop... whatever is going on?_ Harry had asked one night.

_I wouldn't even know where to begin,_ the other Harry responded heavily. _If Remus is right and this world is merging with yours, I think it's safe to say we're all screwed._

Harry raised a mental eyebrow. _Way to stay optimistic, _he shot sarcastically. _If the worlds are merging, how would that work, do you think? Would it be like me coming through, merging with you, or would the world just... disappear?_

_That's a good question. From what I was seeing, though, like with the Ministry of Magic, things were just disappearing. I don't know if that applies to people or just places. The places don't really matter much, I suppose, but the people... Two Voldemorts in one mind. And he's not exactly the kind sort of fellow you are; one Voldemort is terrifying as is, but two... _

Both Harries went silent at this thought, shuddering simultaneously. _What about the people who exist here, but not in the other world? Mum and Dad have been dead for fourteen years there. Caleb and Piper never existed in the first place. _

The other Harry seemed to shrug. _I imagine they'll stay the way they are. If it was the other way around, if I'd fallen into your world and this one was merging into that one, there'd probably be more reason to worry. They wouldn't have anywhere to merge, so they'd probably fall into non-existence themselves._

_And if the two worlds merge, I suppose that solves the question on whether or not I'll ever go back there._

The other Harry remained silent for a moment. Harry imagined he wore a thoughtful expression on his face. _Would you want to go back? I mean, given everything, wouldn't you prefer living here? You've got parents and siblings, and no one really knows you here. Even after what happened on the platform, you don't get as much attention as you did there. _

Harry didn't have a response for this. The question had been on his mind since his first day in this world. Yes, it was nicer living here; he did have parents, people who loved him and would go to the edge of the world for him. And the first few days, even weeks, had been great. It wasn't until he'd started discovering the little details of this world that he started questioning which one he really preferred. A dozen clichéd sayings popped into his mind—the grass is greener on the other side; be careful what you wish for; things aren't always as they seem—and he couldn't help thinking how true all of them were.

He still hadn't come up with an answer when Ron walked into the dormitory and stopped in his tracks when he spotted Harry sitting on his bed working on a Transfiguration essay. The two boys eyed one another warily and Harry realized they hadn't been alone in the same room since the morning Caleb had rushed into tell Harry about Sirius' arrest.

"You weren't at dinner," Ron commented, breaking the eye contact and heading to his trunk, digging through his clothes for something.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Didn't know you cared," he muttered, turning a page in his textbook.

"I don't," Ron replied flatly. "Hermione does, though, and she was wondering why you've been so standoffish lately."

"Oh," Harry said. "I'll talk to her tomorrow, then."

"You do that," Ron muttered.

When Harry didn't respond again, Ron started to leave the dorm. As he reached the door, however, he stopped and turned, eyeing Harry appraisingly before nodding decisively about something and closing the door with a loud snap. "What the hell is with you?" he asked irritably.

Harry sat up straighter on his bed. "What d'you mean?" he asked cautiously.

Ron rolled his eyes impatiently, crossing the room to better glare at Harry—or so Harry presumed. "For the last four years, you've made it your life's mission to make _our_ lives as miserable as humanly possible." Harry assumed "our lives" included those of Hermione, Neville, and Ginny. And possibly Caleb. "You haven't said a kind word to any of us since we met and you've gone out of your way to humiliate us at every turn. Now all of a sudden you're repentant—and don't try that _change of heart_ BS you've spouted to Hermione!" Harry vaguely wondered whether Ron could have possibly put more sarcasm or scathing in the phrase "change of heart." "I want to know what the hell you think you're playing at."

Harry stared evenly at Ron, ignoring his inner grumblings about how Ron shouldn't look a gift hippogriff in the mouth. "Trust me," he said finally, standing up with the intention of leaving the room, "you don't want to know. Now if you'll kindly step aside—"

He stopped abruptly as Ron's wand rose and came to rest right between his eyes. "No," Ron said firmly. "I won't step aside. And you left your wand on the bed, so you can stop reaching for it."

Harry glanced over his shoulder, indeed finding his wand resting uselessly on the mattress, right next to his essay. He slumped slightly in defeat. "What do you want?" he asked tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"An explanation."

Harry shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me anyway," he said.

"Try me. You might find I'm very open-minded." Ron adjusted the grip on his wand, indicating he was willing to remain where he was for the long run.

_Persistent little ginger, isn't he?_ snickered Harry's mind, a tinge of admiration in his tone. Harry ignored it. "Fine," he said resignedly. "But remember, you asked for it. Can we at least sit down? It's a bit of a long story."

Looking highly suspicious, Ron nodded. Harry sat back down on his bed while Ron took Seamus'. Taking a deep breath, Harry thought back to when he'd told Remus the truth and wondered if he could take that same approach. _Not like you have much to lose, _said his inner commentator. "Right," Harry said as much to himself as to Ron. "I'm not from here. Where I'm from, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are my best friends in the world and have been since we were first years. Also in first year, I was the youngest Seeker Hogwarts had seen in a century. Last year, I pulled you out of the depths of the black lake where mermaids were guarding you. You're absolutely terrified of spiders, but when we were twelve, you and I had to go into the Forbidden Forest on Hagrid's request to speak with an acromantula called Aragog whose sons and daughters were going to eat us because we weren't Hagrid. We were saved by your father's flying Ford Anglia, which we'd used to get to school in the first place, because Draco Malfoy's family house-elf Dobby sealed the gateway to Platform 9 ¾, then we crash landed in the Whomping Willow, showed up just in time to save our hides. Later that same year, I saved your sister's life from the Chamber of Secrets. Your family lives in a house in the country called the Burrow and your bedroom is decorated with Chudley Cannons stuff. You've got five older brothers—Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, and Bill. Your dad words in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office at the Ministry. Your mum is the best cook I've ever met, second to my mum. Charlie works with dragons; Bill is a curse breaker in Egypt."

Harry paused to take a deep breath and to take in Ron's expression. The other boy was staring at him, his jaw hanging open slightly. Ron remained speechless for a minute or two, but finally managed to regain his voice. "How do you know about the car?" he demanded.

Fighting not to laugh, Harry mused how very like Ron it was that he focused not on the fact that Harry had just admitted he was from another world or that he knew things about his family most people weren't aware of, but that Harry knew about Ron's father's charmed car. "I told you," he responded calmly. "Where I'm from, you and I are best friends."

Ron was nodding slowly. "Right," he said slowly and skeptically. "And, erm, if you're not _from_ here, how did you _get_ here?"

Harry thought about the answer to the question. He could give Ron the same explanation he'd given the other people he'd told about his arrival in this world. There was still the question as to _why_ he was here. If Voldemort had, for whatever reasons, done this to him, _why_ had he done it? It couldn't be because he thought Harry needed a break from his real life, living with relatives who didn't care whether he lived or died. It couldn't be because he wanted to show Harry what his life _could have_ been like.

He was unable to explore the query much further; Ron was looking at him expectantly. "I, er, sort of fell through a gateway of some sort. Kind of like Platform 9 ¾, only instead of taking me from the Muggle world to the wizarding one, it took me from my reality to an alternate one."

The red head still looked skeptical. "Uh huh," he responded as he stood, edging away from Harry as cautiously as possible. "Well, either you're a pranking genius or you're mental. I'm banking on the latter. You need help, mate."

Harry nodded in agreement to Ron's assessment, even though Ron had turned his back on him and was heading towards the door. "Ron," he called before Ron left. The boy turned around, his eyebrows raised. "Look, whether you believe me or not, I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this to anyone. Please?"

Ron stared at him for a few moments before nodding ever so slightly and leaving the room.

Flopping back on his bed, Harry closed his eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. "That went well," he muttered to himself.

His mind only snickered in response.

* * *

Lily sat at her kitchen table, Remus and James on either side of her, waiting to hear why Remus had come by so early. It looked as though he hadn't slept in a week, which was typically how he looked in the days leading up to the full moon, but as the full moon was still two weeks ago, there were other factors at work. Helen's death was weighing heavily on his mind, obviously, and that could have been partly what made him look grey and exhausted, but knowing him as she did, Lily knew there was something else going on.

Finally, Remus sighed heavily, took a fortifying gulp of his tea, and looked up to meet James' and Lily's gazes. "Last night, I went to speak with Sirius," he said quietly.

James sat straighter in his chair, his eyes narrowing. "Why?" he asked sharply.

"Because I wanted answers," Remus told him plainly. "Because, while I know you and your Aurors do your jobs very well and you wouldn't arrest somebody without cause, I believe things aren't as they seem."

"And what makes you think that?" James asked, his tone slightly patronizing.

Remus, having much experience with James' moods, met the Auror's eyes levelly. "Partly because four months ago, you never would have believed Sirius could be part of something like this. And yes, I realize it's been a rough few months for your family, James, but I know you, I've known you since we were eleven, and I know Sirius is your best friend, no matter what you say. It's always been that way and I learned to accept it years ago. The pair of you would do anything for each other and you trust each other more than you trust anybody else. You've trusted him with everything—Secret-Keeper for your family when you had to go into hiding; missions for work and the Order that could have meant life and death for either or both of you; you've told Sirius things you haven't even told me or Lily."

"Don't deny it, James," Lily chimed in, rolling her eyes as James started to argue. "We all know it's true."

"What's your point, Remus?" James asked quietly, hardly looking at either of them.

"My point is that before the last few months you never would have suspected Sirius of doing anything like this. And I understand why you suspect him now, but James, you're not seeing everything," Remus told him imploringly.

James barely blinked in response. "What else is there to see, Remus?" he asked, his tone rather hollow. "His wand was there, at Helen's, it cast the Killing Curse that killed her." Lily watched Remus wince at James' words, but she remained silent for the moment. "Why would his wand be there if he wasn't?"

"Oh yeah," Lily said dryly, "because it's not even the slightest bit conceivable that he could have been knocked out and had his wand stolen, James. It wouldn't be the first time, either." She turned to look at Remus. "What makes you think all this, Remus?"

Remus sighed, visibly hesitating as he carefully chose his next words. He knew, as well as Lily did, that there would only be one chance to convince James to believe him, and one wrong argument would ruin his chances. "Sirius insists he has no recollection of what happened that night," he stated quietly. "There could be any number of explanations for that—the Imperius Curse, memory charms... What we do know is that Sirius was being held hostage in that building with Piper. Why couldn't it be possible that Death Eaters took his wand once he was there and framed him?"

"Why would they do that?" James asked tiredly. "What could be gained by framing him?"

"I don't know," Remus began, his tone bordering on impatience. He knew James was humoring him and Lily gave it a few more minutes before the conversation turned into a full blown row. "Maybe to turn us against him. It sure as hell wouldn't be the first time they've tried it; you lot turned your backs on me with a few placed words in your ears and it took nearly a year for me to finally convince you I hadn't joined Voldemort."

Lily's eyes bent guiltily. Though she hadn't believed Remus would have betrayed them, she'd had her own moments of doubt during that time. She also recalled how losing trust in Remus, however brief it had been, had put a crack in what was once an unbreakable friendship between the Marauders. Apparently one crack had the potential to break the rest of them. She wasn't sure their friendship had ever fully recovered, especially after what had happened to Peter.

"That's not fair," James said hoarsely, pointing at Remus. "You know it was more than a few well placed words, Remus. They had us convinced all your little disappearances before and after full moons meant Voldemort might have gotten his hooks in you."

Remus only shrugged. "Fair or not, this is the same situation, though I will be the first to admit this is rather more pointed and extreme than what happened with me. If they could turn you, Sirius, and Peter against me, why couldn't they turn _us_ against Sirius?"

The expression on James' face that suggested he might be coming around to Remus' line of thinking was fleeting before he went back to being as stubborn as ever. "Fine," he conceded. "Let's say this is the same situation. Why would they go to the trouble of kidnapping my daughter and killing Helen?"

Remus closed his eyes as though praying for more patience. "_For that exact reason_," he said through clenched teeth. "If you're convinced Sirius kidnapped Piper and I'm convinced he killed Helen, there's not much chance we're going to trust him unquestionably. Not to mention this all started when you thought Sirius allowed Lucius Malfoy free reign aboard the Hogwarts Express while Harry was being attacked. This is _exactly_ the kind of thing they go for!"

"Seems a bit elaborate, even for them," James said stubbornly, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair.

Lily could see the muscles of Remus' jaw tense as he fought back frustration.

"How could anything be more elaborate than kidnapping a five-year-old boy, force feeding him an experimental potion, wiping his memory, then, ten years later, making certain a gateway to an alternate universe opened for the exact purpose of making that boy's counterpart fall through into our world?" Remus shot back. "Nothing is too elaborate for Voldemort. Haven't you figured that out by now?"

James rolled his eyes. "And just where exactly is all this coming from, Remus?" he asked after a few moments of silence. "Less than a week ago, you believed Sirius was just as guilty as I do. Why the sudden change of heart?"

Lily sat up a little straighter as Remus thought about his answer.

"Harry," he said quietly. Both Potters raised their eyebrows in question. "He asked me for a word last night about Sirius, telling me he believed things weren't as they seemed. Where he's from, _his_Sirius went through almost the same thing. The difference being the crimes he was accused of were the deaths of twelve Muggles, that world's Peter Pettigrew, and handing over the location of you, your wife, and your son to Lord Voldemort." Lily and James glanced at one another briefly. "It took twelve years for the truth to come out and by then, that Sirius was barely anything more than a shell of what he'd once been. If Sirius is truly innocent, I don't want to see that happen here. We've got enough to face with this war without thinking the worst of our friends."

_He's got a good point,_ Lily thought, glancing between Remus and James, trying to gage her husband's thoughts on the subject. It seemed, however, James wouldn't be so easily swayed this time. "Harry," he said dully, shaking his head a little. "You're putting a little too much trust in him, don't you think? A boy from another world who claims he has visions both from Lord effing Voldemort and from the world he came from. How do we know he's telling the truth? How do we know _all_ of these visions aren't from Voldemort? He could be setting all of us up!"

Remus sighed, rubbing his temples as Lily spoke up again. "Oh for the love of..." She glared at her husband. "I thought we were past this, James?"

"This is mental," James said, standing suddenly, glaring at Remus. Lily had the feeling James hadn't even heard her. "It's nice that you believe Sirius is innocent. And you're right, I want to believe it too. But there's too much against him, and I'm not putting my faith into a fifteen-year-old boy who sees hallucinations, whether he's my son or not."

Without another word, James turned and left the room. A few moments later, the front door slammed shut, leaving Lily and Remus alone in the kitchen. "Such a bloody child," Lily muttered, looking over at Remus. The wizard was still glaring at the chair where James had been sitting. She sighed and reached out a hand to touch his arm, startling him from his thoughts. "Do you honestly believe Sirius is innocent?" Her tone was barely above a whisper.

He sighed heavily and met her eyes. "Yes," he responded. "I think I do. Lily, I talked to him, I saw the look in his eyes when he was telling me what happened. That wasn't the expression of a lying man."

With her own heavy sigh, Lily nodded. "Okay," she said, patting Remus' arm. "James might not come around for a while, but until then, you've got my support."

Relief on Remus' face was palpable and he smiled slightly. "Thank you," he said.

She winked at him. "Now, if we're going to prove a man's innocence, we're going to need a good breakfast. Get the eggs and I'll start the toast."

As they started their meal, Lily knew whatever happened in the next few weeks would either convince James of the truth or destroy everything they'd built over the last twenty years. She had to be prepared for either scenario, especially if she was about to openly take sides against her husband.

_He'll come around_, she tried to convince herself. No matter how firmly she kept the thought in her mind, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that she might be wrong.

* * *

**AN: **I know, you're all in shock that I've updated before the six month mark. Recover from your heart attacks, I'll wait... Okay, so we finally have Harry telling someone who's not family the truth. Whether Ron will believe it or not... well, that's a topic for another chapter. There's also a bit more insight into how Harry is seeing into his old world and the mysterious mind voice. Is it the other Harry back from wherever he went or just a bit of leftover side effect from the original merging? You'll just have to wait and see. Now if you'll be so kind, please review!


	12. Twelve

_**Through Another's Eyes**_

By Neurotica

_Twelve_

_Why the hell did I ever think this whole alternate universe stuff might be a good thing?_

Harry leaned against the stone wall of the castle and slid down it, looking out towards the grounds while his fellow students enjoyed what would be among the last nice days before winter's arrival. It had been a week and a half since Sirius was arrested, a week since he'd spoken to Ron and told the other boy the truth about where he was from and who he was. Ron hadn't spoken to him since, had actively avoided any place where Harry might be, and went out of his way to keep from having to interact with him in any way. Harry had also been lacking in interaction from the almighty voice in his head. The connection to this world's Harry was tenuous at the best of times, their conversations cut short without a moment's notice, and Harry still wasn't sure what to make of this. Perhaps it was a fluke, or as he wondered all along, whether it was left over after the Killing Curse.

Whatever the answer, the voice was one of the few things that comforted him anymore and the lack of communication was becoming bothersome.

His head snapped up as he heard the crunching of leaves beneath someone's feet to find Ron Weasley approaching cautiously, hands in his jacket pocket, presumably wrapped around the hilt of his wand. Harry met Ron's gaze evenly, his own had reaching for his wand. He wasn't sure what would happen during this confrontation, but he was fully prepared with several defensive charms at the tip of his tongue, just in case.

"Hi," Ron said gruffly, shuffling around on the grass a bit.

"Hi."

"Mind if I sit?"

Harry shook his head. "Sure," he muttered, scooting over slightly so Ron wouldn't have to sit in the thorny bushes on either side of them. Ron sat, took a few moments to get himself settled, and seemed to settle his gaze somewhere across the grounds—possibly the Quidditch pitch. Neither boy spoke for several minutes; Ron seemed to be in deep thought, and after their last conversation, Harry wasn't sure what more there was to say. Either Ron would believe him or think he was completely mental. If it was the latter, however, Harry couldn't think of a single reason why Ron would be here now.

"How'd you know all that stuff?" Ron asked suddenly, still staring across the grounds.

"I told you already," Harry said patiently. "I'm from somewhere totally different from here, I've had different experiences."

Ron's brow furrowed. "So what happened to the Harry Potter that belongs here?"

Harry took a deep breath. "That story is a little more complicated to explain. I don't even really understand it myself. At first, we shared his body, but something happened and we were separated." He wasn't quite ready to tell Ron about the incident on the Hogwarts Express platform with Draco Malfoy just yet. "He went away for a while, but now, every so often, I can hear him. In my mind, I mean."

The look Ron gave him seemed to suggest he believed Harry needed psychological help. Sooner rather than later. He refrained from saying this out loud, though; possibly his curiosity was getting the better of him for the moment. "So if you're not from here, can you get back to wherever it is you're from?"

"Dunno," Harry said with a shrug. "I wouldn't know where to begin figuring it out. Dumbledore knows, so I imagine if there was a way, he'd have come up with it already, right?'

"Maybe," Ron said slowly. "Does anyone else know? Besides Dumbledore, I mean."

"My parents, Caleb, my parents' friends..." Harry shrugged again. "We didn't think it would be a brilliant idea to advertise it."

Ron snorted a laugh and his eyes darted sideways briefly to look at Harry. "Probably not." The smile on the other boy's face slipped away slowly and Ron shifted a little nervously. "So why'd you tell me?"

"You asked," Harry said simply. "And to be honest, I've been wanting to tell other people for weeks; I just didn't know who I could trust."

"And you think you can trust me?"

"Can I?"

Ron sat silently for a minute or two, contemplating the question while Harry surreptitiously crossed his fingers. Over the last few months, he'd regularly thought about how badly he missed his best friends—the adults were wonderful, but when it came down to it, there really was no replacing Ron and Hermione in his life—and he wasn't sure disappointment was quite the word if Ron declared he was mental and needed to be avoided at all costs.

The red head finally turned to meet Harry's eyes, his jaw tensed. "Yeah," he said, his voice barely over a whisper. "You can trust me."

Harry did his best to hide the relief he felt; if Ron noticed, he was kind enough to ignore it. "Thanks," he told Ron with a small grin.

Nodding, Ron began to stand up again, glancing at his wristwatch. Harry did the same and was surprised that it was nearly dinnertime already. Ron stretched out a hand to help Harry up. "So I imagine you've got some pretty interesting stories..." he said leadingly.

Harry's grin grew. "You could say that. Want to hear a few?"

Ron grinned as well as they headed for the castle doors. "Yeah, but after dinner. Probably wouldn't be the best idea to—"

The sentence was cut off very suddenly as the world started to move. At first, the shaking was slight, and if it had remained that way, Harry might have put it off as his imagination. But within thirty seconds, both Harry and Ron had lost their balance and had fallen to the ground. They weren't the only ones; all across the school grounds, Harry could hear his fellow students calling out in surprise, some in fright. Harry glanced up, hoping to reorient himself with the world. The only thing he managed to do was spot a large stone portion of the castle wall loosening right above Ron and himself. Just in time to avoid them being crushed, Harry grabbed Ron by the collar of his robes and yanked him a few feet away. They both dived to the ground again and covered their heads with their arms, just as the others on the grounds were doing, and resigned themselves to waiting the phenomenon out.

Their wait was long. It felt like an hour while in reality it was only around five minutes, but when the shaking finally stopped, Harry cautiously lifted his head to look around before pushing himself off the ground.

"I think it's over," Harry told Ron shakily.

Ron stood up, looking pale and frightened, something Harry could easily empathize with. "What the bloody hell was that?" he breathed, meeting Harry's eyes again. He suddenly reached out to grasp Harry's shoulder as the ground gave another violent shudder, one that only lasted a second or two, before all was calm again.

"Earthquake?" Harry suggested. "A really big one."

Ron nodded his agreement, swallowing hard and looking as though he was about to be ill. All around them, students were getting to their feet and looking around as though searching for the source of the earthquake. A few of the older students seemed to be attempting to laugh the whole thing off, partly to calm down the younger, crying ones. Ron took a deep breath. "Maybe we should—"

Again, his sentence was cut off, this time by Professor McGonagall's voice. It sounded as though she was standing right beside Harry; so much so that he actually started to turn around in search of his Head of House. "All students please return to your common rooms and await further instructions."

"Come on," Harry told Ron, suddenly wanting nothing more than to be surrounded by the familiar décor of Gryffindor Tower.

* * *

James bolted out of his office the moment the earthquake had begun, shouting for Lily and Piper. He found them in the kitchen, Lily kneeled down and curled defensively around her daughter; James crossed the room and pulled both of them to stand beneath the doorframe until the shaking stopped.

"You all right?" James asked, straightening up and turning to check his wife and daughter for any injuries. From what he could tell, neither of them was hurt—Piper's arms were wrapped around Lily's neck, her face buried in her mother's shoulder, shaking; Lily kept a protective hold on the little girl and looked paler than usual, but otherwise all right.

"We're fine," Lily assured him, rubbing Piper's back comfortingly. "Was that what I think it was?"

James smiled a little. "If you think it was an earthquake, then yes, I think it was." He turned and looked around the house, running his hand through his hair. There was no visible damage to the house. A few photographs on the wall in the hallway had fallen and their glass had broken; some of the plates from a kitchen cabinet had fallen out and shattered. Nothing irreparable. "Don't think I've felt one like that in twenty years..." With Piper still firmly attached to her mother, James and Lily started to clean up the mess.

As they finished up, and Lily finally convinced Piper to release her death grip, the fireplace lit up and Kingsley Shacklebolt's face appeared in the flames. "Did you feel it?" he asked James by way of a greeting.

"How could we not?" James replied. "Everything all right?"

Kingsley's head shook. "Ministry's calling in all department heads. There's been some damage to the building, mostly down on Level Ten, even though none of the Unspeakables will tell anyone what that damage might be. Also, St. Mungo's is reporting their own issues, structural damage and the like."

"Any injuries reported?" asked James.

"Not yet," replied Kingsley. "But it's only been a few minutes. I imagine it won't be long before the owls start arriving."

James nodded and glanced over his shoulder to where Lily and Piper had taken a seat on the sofa to listen in. "Am I to take it that you're not in my fireplace to merely inform me of all this?" he asked wryly.

Kingsley grinned a little guiltily. "All hands on deck, mate. Think you can spare him for a few hours, Lily?"

"I think we can manage," Lily told him. "I'll send him on in a minute, Kingsley."

With a wink, Kingsley's head disappeared from the green flames, and the flames themselves reverted to their normal orange color. James turned and stood, facing Lily. "You sure you'll be okay?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Of course," she told him. "Piper and I will have a bit of dinner, maybe watch a movie. Go. Take care of Ministry business before they collapse in a panic."

Chuckling, James nodded, kissed his wife and daughter, and headed upstairs to change into his Ministry robes.

* * *

Almost the moment the earthquake ended, his eyes snapped open. It was a minute or so before he was able to gain full control over his stiff muscles and as he sat up, he reached a shaking hand up to massage the back of his neck, surveying his surroundings warily. The décor was both new and familiar, and very disconcerting, though not as quite as disconcerting as the moment his own hands caught his attention. Breathing rather erratically, he lowered the hand massaging his neck and examined it very carefully, then lifted his other arm, staring at it in wonder.

Once he was certain he had his bearings, and that his legs would support him, he stood and crossed the tiny room to the door, which opened before he had a chance to test the doorknob. He poked his head around the door, finding a long, narrow hallway with several other doors of each side, all of which had opened just as his had done. Whoever the other occupants of the other rooms, none of them had thought to leave just yet, which bode just fine for him: his path to the door at the very end of the hallway, the one he assumed to be the exit, was clear, and he proceeded almost eagerly.

He managed to slip out of the empty, silent hall into a much busier, more crowded part of the building. When nobody spared him even a glance, he joined the throng of confused, slightly panicked witches and wizards, and navigated himself down four stories, walked directly past the front desk, picked up a brisk pace as he reached the main exit, and finally sucked in fresh London air for what felt like the first time in ten years.

Hesitating only a second, the man headed for a nearby alley where he took a moment to breathe deeply and steel his nerves before turning on the spot and disappearing. He had orders to follow.

* * *

Once again, Remus was climbing the stairs towards Sirius' flat. Over the last week or so, he'd visited his friend twice more—once with the promised groceries, since the restraining charm on Sirius alerted the Auror office if he stepped more than a few feet outside his building; the second time, merely to keep his friend company. Their conversations had slowly been returning to normal, for which Remus was grateful; it indicated that once all this was over, his friendship with Sirius might be salvageable.

Today, Lily had decided to come along with Piper. It went unsaid that this little outing was not to be mentioned to James. At least not until they figured out a way to convince him of the truth. Remus was well aware of what it meant for Lily to go behind her husband's back and he knew it couldn't have been an easy decision to make. The few times in the past when she had gone behind his back, it had been because she was absolutely convinced he was wrong and the only way to prove it to him would be to do something she knew he wouldn't approve of. The most recent, of course, had been in late summer, when Remus and Dumbledore had informed James and Lily of the incident with Harry. James decided immediately he wanted nothing more to do with the boy—in his mind, his son was gone and there would be no replacing him—and when Harry had disappeared from his hospital room, James had flatly refused to assist in the search, regardless of how strongly his wife had felt about it. It had taken a literal slap in the face from Lily for him to agree to help. Considering James' attitude change in regards to James, Remus felt it only a matter of time before they would be able to bring him around this time as well.

Nevertheless, if this went pear-shaped in the end, Remus would never forgive himself if this ruined the Potters' marriage and he was fully prepared to take all the blame from James, even if it risked losing _his_ friendship.

As they reached Sirius' door, Remus turned to Lily, giving her one last chance to back out. "You're sure about this?" he asked quietly, his eyes darting meaningfully to Piper, who was fully absorbed with their surroundings from where she was being held in her mother's arms.

She raised a pale eyebrow at him, indicating she knew exactly what he was implying and why. Without answering, she reached out a fist and knocked on the door.

He exhaled a puff of laughter. "I'll just take that for a yes, shall I?"

Before she could respond, they heard Sirius' alert voice on the other side of the door. "Who's there?" he demanded.

"Lily, Remus, and Piper," replied the witch.

Remus could almost see the look of surprise on his old friend's face. He'd told Sirius about the near-disastrous conversation with James and Lily, and Remus had rather gotten the impression Sirius hadn't heard much after he'd been told James was refusing to entertain the idea of him being innocent.

The door opened cautiously after a few long moments revealing Sirius, who, to Remus' surprise, seemed to have made some effort to clean himself up for a change. He'd shaved, probably showered less than a few hours ago, so he didn't currently smell like firewhiskey, and had even combed his hair. His expression, as Remus had suspected, was surprise. Upon identifying his visitors, he immediately lowered his wand, though he still seemed slightly suspicious. "What're you doing here?" he asked, his eyes darting almost imperceptibly over his shoulder at something unseen inside the flat.

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "Good to see you too, Sirius," she said cheerfully. "Yes, I've missed you terribly! I've been very well, thank you, and yourself?"

Sirius' expression relaxed into something more familiar and welcoming. "Sorry," he said with a grin. "Wasn't expecting company."

"Clearly," Lily said, her lips twitching. "So are you going to invite us in or has this little trek been entirely pointless?"

Remus stood up a little straighter as Sirius hesitated, his eyes once again moving from his friends' faces to the inside of the flat before resting on Piper, who somehow managed to fall asleep.

"Right," Sirius said finally, forcing a grin on his face. "Of course. Come in." He stood aside to allow them to pass and despite trusting Sirius as much as he thought—or _hoped_—he did, Remus' hand slipped casually into his pocket, grasping the hilt of his wand. An equally casual glance around the flat revealed the reason for Sirius' odd behavior: standing in the sitting room in what Remus identified as a defensive stance was a woman he felt he should recognize, but her identity remained in the far reaches of his mind. The two of them stare at one another for minutes with identical expressions of wariness on their faces while behind them, Piper had woken and was now greeting Sirius enthusiastically.

"I hate to interrupt," Remus said evenly, not taking his eyes from the woman. His first thought had been that perhaps Sirius had a girlfriend he'd kept secret from his friends—it wouldn't be the first time—but her posture was too guarded for that to be the answer.

"Oh," he heard Lily say in surprise as her attention turned to the rest of the room. "Sorry, were we interrupting, Sirius?"

"No," Sirius said heavily. He came around to stand beside Remus with Piper in his arms. "Remus, Lily, this is Elicia Bode."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop significantly as recognition of the name dawned on both Lily and Remus. He'd only heard the name a handful of times over the last decade or so, but every time it had been associated with overheard, hurried conversations between James and Sirius, sometimes Dumbledore, about passing information between the Order and the Death Eaters. Lily exhaled deeply and Remus heard a murmured, "I knew it," at the end of the breath.

"Look, I know what you're going to say—" Sirius began.

"Do you?" asked Lily archly.

"She's on our side, Lily," Sirius insisted. "If you'll just let me explain..."

Lily looked at Remus who shrugged ever so slightly to indicate it was her decision to make. She glanced at her daughter, still content in Sirius' arms. "You've got five minutes. And she—" Her eyes darted to Elicia, who hadn't moved a muscle since the moment Remus' eyes first found her. "—stays over there."

Sirius nodded his acquiescence and set Piper on the floor, directing the girl to a toy box in the corner next to the kitchen table to play. Remus caught the eye roll directed at Lily; the witch either didn't see anything or ignored it altogether. "Well," Sirius said, moving to sit in a desk chair beside Elicia, "if we've only got five minutes, we might as well be comfortable."

Rather stiffly, Elicia sat first in an armchair as though trying to demonstrate she wasn't the threat the others thought her to be. After a moment, Lily and Remus sat on the sofa, looking at Sirius expectantly.

"Okay, first of all, Elicia is here to help," Sirius began quietly. "I know neither of you has any reason to trust her, but I do. And all I ask is that if you trust me at all, at least give her a chance."

"And _why_ do you trust her, Sirius?" challenged Lily.

Sirius hesitated, looking sidelong at Elicia. "Because I'm the one who found your daughter," said the other woman plainly.

"Excuse me?" Lily said after a few moments of bemused silence.

"You received a note the night your daughter was taken telling you that if you found Sirius, you'd find her," Elicia said calmly. "I realize it was not as informative as it could have been, but it was the best I could do without giving away too much."

Far from displaying for the note that had led to the recovery of her daughter, Lily's fingers were twitching dangerously, either itching to wrap themselves around her wand or Elicia's neck. "You knew where my daughter was," Lily stated in a very carefully controlled tone.

"No, she didn't," Sirius said heavily.

"I knew your family was a target," Elicia clarified unblinkingly. "I knew a hostage would be taken, but I did not know it would be your daughter, nor did I know where she would be taken. What I do know is that she never would have been harmed."

Remus' brow furrowed as he worked to wrap his mind around what the witch was saying, or, in this case, _not_ saying. "If Piper wasn't the target," he began in a low voice, "then who was?"

For the first time, Elicia rather than Sirius hesitated, looking at the wizard beside her as though seeking his permission to say what she wanted to say. Sirius, staring at his hands with a grim expression on his face, nodded almost imperceptibly. Elicia turned back to Lily and Remus. "There were two intended targets, though only one would have been obtainable that night. Your husband and your oldest son."

Remus felt Lily stiffen at her words. "Why?" she asked, sounding like she already knew the answer and feared it.

"Why do you think?" Elicia asked slightly patronizingly. "Your husband has been a target since day one, and your son... Well, he's something else altogether, isn't he?" She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Or some_one_ might be more accurate."

Lily paled considerably. "I beg your pardon?" she asked tightly, glancing away from Elicia only long enough to shoot a glare at Sirius that promised certain death if he'd told her about what had happened to Harry.

"Sirius didn't tell me anything," she assured Lily. "Worked it out myself after a few overheard conversations. It's not important_ how_ know. But I assure you, I'm not the only one, and I am the _last_ person you need to worry about."

"There's a reason for everything that's happened over the last few weeks," Sirius picked up, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "_Everything_. Harry—both of them. Helen. Piper. What happened with me and James..."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"It's all part of some master plan. Harry is a really long story. But there's a reason James suddenly decided to believe I've turned against you lot. It's what they want. They want to rip us apart, turn us against each other."

Lily shook her head a little as though she was trying to comprehend what she'd been told. "Who's _they_?" she asked.

Sirius took a deep breath to answer, but Remus spoke first. "Voldemort," he practically growled. Sirius nodded. "He wants Harry and he wants James. He's probably convinced himself he can get one with the other. Harry wouldn't hand over James, I don't think, but if James is convinced his best friend has turned against him, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to convince him that Harry is a danger as well. He already believed it once, and if I know James at all, he might have tried to bury that feeling, but it's gone."

Sirius nodded again. "Harry has been on Voldemort's radar since he got here, before that, even. Voldemort knows who he is, knows where he's from, knows the Harry from this world is gone." He gave Lily an apologetic glance. "He's had all this planned from the get-go."

Remus felt his stomach drop, just has it had every time this subject had been brought up and yet another person managed to confirm a theory. This one was possibly the worst of all of them, considering the information was coming directly from someone in Voldemort's Inner Circle. Of course, there was also a concern about whether the given information could be considered reliable at all. Remus met Sirius' eyes directly, finding them filled with the familiar stubbornness and determination as they were when the Marauders had still been the biggest troublemakers Hogwarts had ever seen, planning their next big prank. It was an expression Remus had seen time and time again during battles and Order meetings, and through every other tough time they'd been through together in their lives. The woman sitting beside Sirius might be a Death Eater and may have done terrible things, but Sirius trusted her; Remus could see written all over his friend's face. The real question now was, even after everything that had happened, did Remus trust Sirius as much as he had before?

* * *

He reappeared at the end of a long, wide driveway and walked quickly to the wrought-iron gates, glancing over his shoulder every few steps as though he was expecting an ambush at any time. Swallowing heavily, he raised his left forearm, hoping desperately it would work as passage, regardless of all the changes he'd apparently undergone. He released a shaky breath of relief when he passed through the gates as though they were made of smoke and fixed his gaze on the large manor in front of him, trying to block out the predatory eyes of the white peacocks he passed.

He thought he'd done a decent job concealing his nerves as he used the knocker to announce his arrival and even started to think he finally had some amount of control over things. As he waited, for the first time in probably his entire life, he felt important, in charge, and fully confident. After all, it was he who had been chosen for this assignment, not any of the others. He was the perfect candidate, the only one who could pull it off. The rewards after his success would be endless, beyond his wildest dreams, and his alone to—

All his confidence disappeared the moment the tall double doors opened with a bang and a wand was pushed into his windpipe. He recognized Lucius Malfoy, but only just. The Lucius he knew always stood straight-backed, shoulders squared, was immaculately groomed and had grey steely eyes that made any lesser being who dared meet them cower in fear.

In contrast, _this_ Lucius was unkempt—his hair mussed in a way never seen by anybody. He had what seemed to be two days' worth of beard growth on his face. His eyes were alert and he still had the power to cower lesser beings, but they were dull, bloodshot, and ringed with black as though he hadn't slept in weeks. He was still a man not to be crossed, which he proved by twisting his wand more sharply into the other's throat.

"How did you get here?" Lucius ground out through clenched teeth.

"I-I was sent," choked the other man, his eyes watering in pain. "I h-have a message for our master."

Lucius' lip curled in what passed as amusement for him. "Is that so?" he asked quietly, looking closely at his uninvited guest for the first time. After a moment, a flash of recognition appeared in his eyes and he whispered, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

The other man breathed in suddenly as the pressure on his throat lessened just a touch. He opened his mouth to respond, but another voice spoke first.

"Is that any way to treat our guest, Lucius?" asked the cold, high-pitched voice. Immediately, Lucius lowered his wand and spun around to face the Dark Lord, his head bowed in fear, respect, and apology.

"My lord," Lucius murmured, his blond hair curtaining his face. "My apologies. I did not wish to disturb you."

"And yet..." responded the Dark Lord, an edge in his tone. "Step aside, Lucius, so that I may give our guest a proper greeting."

The man still outside the door mostly managed to subdue the squeak that was fighting its way out of his throat as Lucius scrambled out of the way, revealing the familiar form of Lord Voldemort—apparently there were a few things that didn't change; or perhaps they _couldn't_ change.

Regardless, he dropped to his knees as his master reached the door, fixing his eyes on the hem of the black robes. "My lord," he murmured his voice shaking only a little. "My apologies for my unannounced arrival."

"You've a message for me?" asked the cold voice.

"Y-yes, my lord," he said almost eagerly. He was just pleased not to have been killed where he kneeled. "You sent for me."

There was only silence for a few moments. "Rise so your master can view you properly."

The man obeyed at once, reluctantly meeting the scarlet-colored eyes. "Ah," the Dark Lord said, looking pleased. "I did indeed send for you." He stepped aside, gesturing with a long white hand for the guest to enter. "Come, let us speak." The man entered the darkened house, finding Lucius staring unabashedly at him with suspicion. "Lucius will fetch food and drink for us, and we shall get you warmed up. You have had quite the journey, Peter Pettigrew."

* * *

**AN: **So this time, the delayed update wasn't my fault. My computer decided to fry the power cord and I've been waiting on a new one. Luckily, the computer itself is fine and I didn't lose anything. It's been a very frustrating few weeks... Anyway. New developments. Should be fun to see how this one plays out. Thoughts? Comments? You know the drill: press that pretty little review button and encourage me to work on the next chapter!


End file.
